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LARRY THE WANDERER 


EDWARD STRATEMEYER'S BOOKS 




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#*# Ml 



He clung to the side of the big stone with all his might. 

Paqe 18 . 









LARRY THE WANDERER 


OR 


THE RISE OF A NOBODY 




BY 

EDWARD STRATEMEl r ER 

Author of “ Old Glory Series,” “ Colonial Series,” “ Pan-American Series,” 
“ Bound to Succeed Series,” ‘‘Ship and Shore Series,” “Working 
Upward Series,” “Between Boer and Briton,” “On to 
Pekin,” “Two Young Lumbermen,” “American 
Boys’ Life of Theodore Roosevelt,” “ Ameri- 
can Boys’ Life of William McKinley.” 


ILLUSTRATED BY A. B. SHUTE 



BOSTON 

LEE AND SHEPARD 
1904 


Published August, 1904 



I usjfAfnf of eowsREss 
TWO 0«»tos R«c«!v«4 

SEP 2 1904 

f awyniMEMnr 
6LA$S ct^XXft. No. 

Copyright, 1894, as a Serial, by Street and Smith 
Copyright, 1904, by Lee and Shepard 

All rights reserved 


Larry the Wanderer 



Berwick and Smith Co. 
Ube morwoot press 
Norwood, Mass. 

U. S. A. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

I. 

A Boy Wanderer .... 




PAGE 

1 

II. 

Larry’s Stoutheartedness . 




13 

III. 

Larry Learns Something . 




25 

IV. 

More Troubles for Larry 




35 

Y. 

A Strange Happening 




49 

VI. 

For and Against .... 




62 

VII. 

Larry Gets an Idea 




70 

VIII. 

Larry Resolves to Investigate 




77 

IX. 

Larry Makes another Friend . 




84 

X. 

Mrs. Kennington’s Mansion 




92 

XI. 

A Moment of Peril 




100 

XII. 

A Lucky Escape .... 




106 

XIII. 

An Unexpected Meeting . 




113 

XIV. 

Larry’s Hard Luck 




120 

XV. 

Larry Defends Himself 




127 

XVI. 

Into the River .... 




134 

XVII. 

Hot Words 




141 

XVIII. 

A Total Disappearance 




148 

XIX. 

Gregory Makes a Confession . 




159 

XX. 

Howard Bruin’s Dilemma . 




166 

XXI. 

Back to the Old Mill 




173 

XXII. 

Something is Found and Stolen 




180 

XXIII. 

An Important Discovery . 




188 

XXIV. 

On the Road Once More . 




195 


V 


Y1 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 



PAGE 

XXY. 

A Lively Meeting .... 


. 202 

XXYI. 

Flight 


. 209 

XXVII. 

The Capture 


. 216 

XXVIII. 

An Astonishing Statement 


. 223 

XXIX. 

Larry Speaks His Mind 


. 230 

XXX. 

The Search for Joshua Small . 


. 236 

XXXI. 

A Pleasing Revelation 


. 247 

XXXII. 

No Longer a Nobody— Conclusion . 


. 255 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Page 

He clung to the side of the big stone with all 

his might (. Frontispiece ) 18 

Larry arose and started to defend himself . 34 

“ Stop where you are ! ” 137 

“ This must be the stolen stuff,” shouted 
Larry 


184 
























PREFACE 


“ Laery the "Wanderer ” is a somewhat different 
story from those I have given to young readers in the 
past, but I trust it will, nevertheless, prove equally in- 
teresting and instructive. 

The tale relates the things which happen to a 
bright and lively youth who, at a tender age, finds 
himself utterly alone in the world, with no knowledge 
of where he came from or where he belongs. Larry’s 
greatest ambition in life is to solve the mystery of his 
parentage, and he wanders from place to place in his 
strange quest until fortune throws him into the com- 
panionship of an artist who is fairly well to do, and who 
takes a strange fancy to the boy. Aided by the artist 
Larry settles down to earn his living as a lake fisher- 
man, and while pursuing this vocation comes in contact 
with those who know much concerning his hidden past. 
By a combination of circumstances Larry and his 
benefactor are made to suffer for a crime about which 
they know absolutely nothing. In their efforts to clear 
themselves they get deeper and deeper into trouble; 
but in the end the odd tangle is straightened out, and 
Larry’s ambition in life is fulfilled. 

My sole object in writing this tale was to show what 
ix 


X 


PREFACE 


a truly manly lad can do even under the most trying 
circumstances. Larry is at times hot-headed, but he 
learns how to control his temper, and there are times 
when he even returns good for evil. In these respects 
his example is well worth following. 

This story was originally published as a serial in 
“ Good News,” of which the author was at the time 
editor. As a serial it received a liberal amount of 
praise. I trust that in its revised form it will bring 
equal pleasure to those who may read it. 

Edward Stratemeyer. 


February 1, 1904 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


CHAPTER I 

A BOY WANDERER 

“ Hi, boy! what are you doing here? ” 

“ Resting, sir.” 

“ Resting? Well, if that isn’t cool! What right 
have you to sneak into a man’s barn in this fashion? ” 

“ No particular right, that’s a fact,” replied the boy, 
as he slowly rose to his feet. “ But I don’t see as I’ve 
hurt the building any, sir.” 

For a second the gentleman addressed stared at the 
boy as if he had not heard aright. 

“ What’s that? ” 

“ I don’t see as I’ve hurt your barn any, have I? ” 

" Why, you rascal ” 

“ Hold on, please ; I’m no rascal.” 

“ Well, if you’re not, what are you? ” 

“ I’m a homeless boy, down on my luck.” 

“ Where are you from? ” 

“ Well, I started from Hew York, but I’ve been in 
Philadelphia and half a dozen other places.” 


2 


LAEEY THE WANDEEEE 


“ What are you doing out here ? ” 

“ Looking for work. I got tired of trying places in 
the city. Everything is crowded to death.” 

“ What can you do? ” 

“ ’Most anything I’m put at, sir.” 

“ That’s saying a good deal, young man.” 

“Well, I’ve worked at eight different jobs in as 
many months, and I feel as if I had dabbled in almost 
everything.” 

“ How old are you? ” 

“ About sixteen, I make it.” 

“ Don’t you know? ” 

The boy shook his head, and for a brief instant a 
trace of soberness crossed his manly and handsome 
face. 

“ Are your folks living? ” 

“ I don’t know.” 

“Well, but — see here; where in creation did you 
spring from? ” 

“ Want to know real bad, sir? ” 

And the boy stepped closer, while a quizzical smile 
played over his face. 

“ I’m rather curious.” 

“ It will cost you a breakfast to hear me spin my 
yarn.” 

“ Why — why — oh, I see ! So you want break- 
fast? ” 

“ Don’t you think a young fellow who hadn’t eaten 


A BOY WANDERER 


3 


anything since yesterday noon would want something 
this morning? ” 

“ Didn’t you have any supper last night ? ” 

“ I had a drink of well water and a piece of cold 
shoulder.” 

“And the cold shoulder didn’t set well, eh?” re- 
turned the man, with a short laugh. “ Well, you’re 
a character, and no mistake. Come up to the house.” 

“ Thank you. Say! you haven’t any bulldogs around 
here, have you? ” 

“ No. What makes you ask that question? ” 

“ W ell, you see my clothing is so full of holes that 
I’m rather tempting to that breed of animals.” 

Again the man laughed. “ Come along, and if your 
story is a straight one, I’ll not only give you a hot 
breakfast, but I’ll see if I can’t find a new coat and 
trousers for you.” 

“ Thanks. I’m mighty glad I struck your barn last 
night. Best barn I’ve slept in for a good while.” 

The boy said this so soberly that the man laughed 
once more, this time heartier than ever. “ You’re a 
free-and-easy lad, I must say,” he observed. 

“ I try to be. What’s the use of going around with 
a funeral face? That doesn’t pay. If I’d put on such 
a face you wouldn’t give me that nice hot breakfast 
nor those good clothes, would you? ” 

“ Perhaps you won’t get them after all.” 

“ Won’t I? I know a good man when I see him.” 


4 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ And you take me for a good man? ” 

“ I do, every time.” 

“ Some folks in this neighborhood don’t think me a 
good man.” 

“What of that? Most people around here would 
take me for a thief and kick me out instead of giving 
me work or something to eat.” 

By this time the man and the boy had reached the 
house — an old stone building, situated close to a large 
mountain stream. 

“ Sit down here,” said the man, pointing to a bench 
which stood on the broad porch. “ I’ll have the house- 
keeper fix you something.” 

He disappeared through the open doorway, and the 
boy took the seat pointed out. In less than two min- 
utes the man was back. 

“ How, let me hear your yarn.” 

“ Is the breakfast on the way? ” 

“Yes; smell the coffee?” 

The boy took a long sniff. 

“ Gosh ! that’s good ! I haven’t had a decent cup of 
coffee for a month! ” 

“ You shall have all you want to eat and drink. 
How, tell me something of yourself, for I must con- 
fess I am full of curiosity. What is your name ? ” 

“ They call me Larry.” 

“Larry what?” 

(i I haven’t any last name — that is, any regular one.” 


A BOY WANDERER 


5 


“No last name at all? ” 

“ Well, the boys in New York call me Larry Curly.” 

“ Why did they call you that ? ” 

The boy took oil his battered straw hat and pointed 
to his dark brown hair. “ That’s the reason,” he re- 
plied. “ See the curls ? ” 

“ Oh, and so they called you Curly on that account? ” 

“ Yes.” 

“ And you were brought up in New York? ” 

“ I wasn’t brought up at all; I simply grew, sir.” 

“ And you say you never knew who your father or 
mother was ? ” 

“ Never, sir. I’m an out and out wanderer, without 
relatives or a home.” 

At that moment the housekeeper came from the 
kitchen. 

“ If you please, Mr. Bruin, breakfast is ready,” she 
said. 

“ Very well, Maggie. We will come in at once. 
Come, Larry, you can finish your story at the breakfast 
table. That will be more agreeable for you, eh? ” 

“ Yes, sir; a square meal always loosens my tongue.” 

The boy arose and followed the man into the house. 
But before sitting down to the well-filled table he 
stepped into the kitchen, and took a thorough wash at 
the sink, and combed his hair with a pocket-comb. 

“ Not an ordinary street boy by any means,” thought 
Howard Bruin, as he watched this toilet-making. “ He 


6 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


is far above the ordinary run of city waifs. I’ll wager 
that there’s some great mystery connected with that 
lad’s life.” 

Larry took the seat shown him, and was quite sur- 
prised to see the man take a chair opposite. 

“ We will have breakfast together,” said Howard 
Bruin. 

“ Aren’t you above eating with a mere tramp?” 
asked Larry curiously. 

“ I don’t take you to be a mere tramp, Larry; I’m 
sure you never traveled with tramps.” 

“ That’s where you’re right. I always go on my 
own hook.” 

“ Whom did you live with in Hew York? ” 

“ I didn’t live with any one.” 

“ Hot when you were young? ” 

“ Oh, I don’t know about that, sir. The first I can 
remember is that I was on a bed in the hospital. That 
was six years ago. The doctors said I had brain fever.” 

“ Well, somebody must have brought you to the hos- 
pital.” 

“Ho; that is, nobody outside of a couple of police- 
men. The doctors told me that I was found locked up 
in a cellar on Cherry Street. How I came there they 
did not know.” 

“ Didn’t you know? ” 

“ I tried to remember, but couldn’t. I had a dim 
idea of a couple of men, an old woman, or two old wo- 


A BOY WANDERER 


7 


men, and a lot of quarreling and fighting about money, 
and it seems to me I was knocked down and left alone. 
Then I do remember a long spell of darkness, which was 
horrible.” 

“ And it was that which gave you the brain fever? ” 

“ The doctors said it must have been. They did all 
they could to get me to tell them something of the 
past, and I tried real hard, but it was no go. The 
whole thing seemed to be sponged out, that is, all but 
what Fve told you about.” 

“ No one ever came to the hospital to claim 
you? ” 

“ No.” 

“ Perhaps they were afraid they would be arrested 
for deserting you.” 

“ I suppose that was it.” 

“ Humph! Here, have another cup of coffee and 
some more ham and eggs.” 

“ Thanks. Do you know this is the best meal Pve 
had since I left Chicago last week? ” 

“ Pm glad you like it. How did you get away from 
the hospital? ” 

“ When I got well they put me in an industrial insti- 
tution and then bound me out to a man by the name of 
Joshua Small, and he was the smallest man I ever 
had anything to do with.” 

“ You didn’t like him? ” 

“ No, Joshua Small and I couldn’t agree. He wanted 


8 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


me to do three men’s work on half a man’s feed, and I 
struck.” 

“ What did he say when you struck? ” 

“ I didn’t give him a chance to say anything.” 

“ You ran away? ” 

“ I did. I wasn’t his slave, and I left and went to 
Philadelphia. There I got a two-months’ job at the 
telephone works, putting up ’phones, and another three- 
months’ job in an athletic club-house, taking care of the 
bowling-alleys.” 

“ So you’ve knocked around quite a bit.” 

“ About as much as any boy of my age.” 

“ I suppose you are anxious to learn something about 
yourself ? ” 

“ Yes, indeed.” Larry stopped eating for a minute 
and swallowed something in his throat which was not 
food. “ I’d give my right hand to know who I am, 
and to find my father and mother, if they are 
alive.” 

“ I don’t doubt you, my lad. Well, you’ve had hard 
luck, and no mistake. Have some more ham and 
eggs? ” 

“ Sorry, but I haven’t room, Mr. ” 

“ My name is Howard Bruin.” 

“Any relation to Mr. Percy Bruin, of Philadel- 
phia? ” 

“Why Percy Bruin is a second cousin! How do 
you happen to know him? ” 


A BOY WANDERER 9 

“ He was a member of the athletic club I worked 
for.” 

“ Ah, I see.” Howard Brum’s face grew thoughtful. 
“ Do you know much of him? ” 

“ I knew him too well! ” cried Larry, his dark eyes 
flashing angrily. 

“ What do you mean? ” 

“ Excuse me, but it wouldn’t be right for me to run 
down your cousin, seeing that you’ve done the hand- 
some thing by me.” 

“ That’s all right, Larry, I might as well tell you that 
there is no love lost between Percy and myself.” 

“ He had me discharged from my job, and not only 
that, he put a slur on my name ! ” went on Larry re- 
sentfully. “ I can stand being knocked around, but I 
won’t be called a thief by any one! ” 

“ Did he call you that? ” 

“He said as much. You see, there were some 
pockets picked at the club-house, and he had the blame 
put on me. He wanted to have me arrested, but the 
other members wouldn’t have it on account of the scan- 
dal getting in the newspapers. But I was discharged, 
and it left such a stain on my name I couldn’t get 
another job in Philadelphia.” 

Larry had risen to his feet while speaking, 
and now he stood before Howard Bruin with clenched 
fists. 

“ Do I look like a thief, sir? ” he demanded. 


10 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ No, you do not, Larry. Percy must have been 
mistaken. He is a hot-headed fellow.” 

“ He’s worse than that ; he’s a miserable sneak ! I 
beg your pardon, Mr. Bruin, but when I ” 

“ Don’t beg my pardon for it, Larry,” interrupted 
the man. “ I agree with you. Percy Bruin, although 
he is my relative, is a thorough sneak. He treated 
me almost as badly as he treated you.” 

The boy stared at Howard Bruin in open-mouthed 
astonishment. 

“ You don’t mean it? ” he said slowly. 

“ Yes, I do. It’s a story I don’t like to tell to every- 
body, as it is a family affair; but, as I intimated at the 
start, there is no love lost between us.” 

Howard Bruin sprang to his feet and took up his 
soft hat, which he had flung on a lounge in the 
corner. 

“ Come to the stable with me, Larry,” he said. “ I 
imagine you would like to do a little work on that 
breakfast. It’s a chance to earn some money.” 

“ I’ll do some work without money. I calculated to 
work for that meal. I’m no charity boy.” 

“ I must say I like your spirit.” 

“ Thanks. Say, Mr. Bruin, haven’t you a steady job 
here for me? ” 

Howard Bruin rubbed his chin meditatively. 

“ Hardly, Larry. You see, I’m an old bachelor, and 
live here alone with Maggie, who used to be my 


A BOY WANDERER 


11 


mother’s housekeeper. I only keep one horse and a 
couple of cows, and I do the work around the place my- 
self, just for exercise and a change from my regular 
work.” 

“ Do you go to Cleveland to do business? ” 

“ Sometimes, but not often. My work comes from 
New York and Philadelphia. I suppose you do not 
know my occupation.” 

“ No, sir.” 

“ I am an artist. I illustrate scientific works, books 
on natural history and travel, and the like. I like to 
live out here, where I get away from the city bustle 
and confusion. The neighborhood of a country town 
like Cleveland just suits me.” 

By this time the two had reached the barn. Under 
Howard Bruin’s directions, Larry set to work at once, 
pitching in with a will, and doing everything in a man- 
ner which could hardly be excelled. 

The barn was situated upon the bank of the stream 
before mentioned, but at a point some distance below 
the residence. 

A hundred feet farther down, the stream made a 
short turn between the banks and rushed over a num- 
ber of sharp rocks and down an incline studded with 
loose stones. 

“ It’s a nice place to live,” observed the boy, as he 
listened for an instant to the rushing of the waters. 
“ There must be fish ” 


12 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


He, broke off short as a loud cry of fear reached his 
ears. 

“ What does that mean? ” he asked. 

“ It came from up the stream,” replied Howard 
Bruin. “ It was a girl’s voice, if I’m not mistaken.” 

“ Say, will you look there ? ” burst from Larry’s lips, 
and he pointed out into the water. 

There, on a frail raft, composed of only a few bits 
of boards, knelt a young girl, not over ten years of age. 
Her hair was flying loosely in the breeze and her face 
was filled with terror. 

“ She’ll be drowned if she gets in the rapids! ” ejacu- 
lated Howard Bruin. “ And, yes, it is Maud Hox- 
well! ” 


CHAPTER II 


larry’s stoutheartedness 

“ Who is Maud Hoxwell?” questioned Larry, as lie 
cast his eye around for a rope. 

“ She is the daughter of a rich lady who lives around 
the bend of the road. What are you going to do ? ” 

“ Pm going to save her from going over the falls. 
Isn’t there any rope around? ” 

Howard Bruin made a rapid search. 

“ Here’s a wash-line.” 

“ That will do, I guess. Come on.” 

Without another word Larry ran with all speed to a 
point a short distance below the barn. 

Here the stream narrowed just before entering 
among the rocks, and the boy calculated that the frail 
raft would pass within ten yards of the shore. 

Quickly unwinding the wash-line, he made a loop 
at one end. 

“ Save me ! Save me ! ” screamed the girl, in an 
agony of fear. 

“ Catch the end of the rope ! ” sang out Larry, as he 
let fly. 

“ I — I can’t let go! ” cried the girl. 

13 


14 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


The rope came down to within six inches of her 
head, but in her terror she made no attempt to catch it, 
but clung fast to the raft, which now rocked violently 
from side to side. 

“ You must catch it! ” cried Larry, as he both gath- 
ered in the rope and followed the raft down the stream. 
“ Catch it now; it’s your only chance! ” 

Again Larry threw the rope, and this time the girl 
made a quick grab for it. 

But the raft had now reached the first of the rapids 
above the falls. It spun around and around, and before 
the girl could catch the rope she was sent headlong into 
the madly rushing stream. She gave one long, pierc- 
ing scream and then disappeared, to rise to the surface 
ten feet further down the water-course. 

“ She is lost now! ” cried Howard Bruin, who had 
followed closely upon Larry’s heels. 

“ Hot if I can save her! ” responded the boy quickly. 
“ Here, hold this end of the rope.” 

With swift steps Larry ran still farther down the 
stream. Presently he reached a point some distance 
ahead of the form of the young girl, now floating 
partly under and partly above water. 

“ Hold fast ! ” he cried to the man, throwing him one 
end of the rope, and slipping the loop over his shoul- 
ders, he leaped into the stream. 

The swift current at once began to carry him down- 
ward toward the falls. Yet he struck out boldly for the 


larry’s stoutheartedness 


15 


middle of the stream, at the same time shouting to the 
girl to come his way, if possible. 

“ Oh, save me! ” screamed the girl, for at least the 
fifteenth time, as Larry bobbed up close by her side. 

“ I will. Put your arms around my neck.” 

“ I— I— can’t.” 

“ Yes, you can. It’s the only way.” 

The girl put up her hands, and Larry threw one 
around his neck direct and the other up under his arm. 
By this she was prevented from choking him. 

“ We’ll both be drowned! ” she wailed. “ Oh, why 
did I go on the raft ! Mamma told me not to go ! ” 

“ Hold tight now,” cried Larry. “ Pull in there! ” 
he yelled to Howard Bruin. 

The man complied. The wash-line strained fear- 
fully. 

“ Take it easy,” shouted the boy, 66 or you’ll snap 
the line! ” 

“ I must pull you up stream ! ” panted the man. “ If 
I don’t, you’ll be dashed on the rocks.” 

“ Well, go slow! There is lots of time. I’ve got the 
girl safe enough! ” 

Thus cautioned, Howard Bruin began to work his 
way cautiously up the bank of the swiftly flowing tor- 
rent. The wash-line was stretched like a harp-cord, and 
the perspiration rolled down the man’s face. 

Larry tried to swim, and thus assist in the work, but 
the girl he was trying to save was a dead weight upon 


16 


LAKEY THE WANDERER 


him, and he could do little more than keep her and 
himself upon the surface. 

“ Tie the line fast to a tree and then run it in to the 
bank! ” called Larry. “ You are far enough above the 
rapids now.” 

Coming to a crooked tree which overhung the 
stream, Howard Bruin made fast. But in his excite- 
ment he made rather a loose knot, and hardly had he 
started to run the line to shore than it began to slip. 
Larry shouted out a warning, but it came too late. The 
line came loose and slipped through Howard Bruin’s 
hands. 

“ It’s gone ! ” he yelled hoarsely. He made a jump 
and caught the very end. But he could not hold it, and 
over he went into the stream, the line whipping an in- 
stant later out of his grasp. “ You’re lost!” he 
shouted, and then he had to swim to save himself. 

Larry saw the line slip, and realized at once that if 
anything was to be done he must do it. Ho one else 
could now help him. Fortunately, his worn-out shoes 
were loose, and he had no difficulty in kicking them off. 
"While he was doing this he struck out desperately for 
the opposite sho're, which seemed to offer a better 
chance of escape. 

“ Don’t hold on quite so tight,” he said to the terri- 
fied girl. “ I can’t swim if you do that.” 

She loosened her grasp just a bit. She was too 
frightened to do more. 


larry’s stoutheartedness 


17 


The pair were now less than a hundred feet from 
where the worst of the rapids began. The water boiled 
and foamed all around them, and Larry’s eyes were 
dashed full of spray. 

“ I must make that bank somehow,” muttered the 
boy to himself grimly. “ I’ve got to do it, if it takes 
every ounce of muscle and nerve in me.” 

He kept on boldly, desperately, madly. The shore 
was now less than fifteen feet away. Ten seconds 
more, and their fate would be decided. 

But now a jagged rock loomed up in front of them, 
over which the fierce torrent of water swept and dashed 
at a furious rate. 

“ Oh, the rock!” shrieked the girl. “ We’ll be 
dashed to pieces! ” 

She had hardly spoken when Larry’s shoulder came 
in sharp and painful contact with the rock. Then 
his head struck, and for the instant he lost his 
senses. 

Howard Bruin, who had by this time climbed out of 
the stream, and was now watching Larry’s efforts to 
save himself and the girl, gave a cry of alarm. 

“ I told him he would lose his life ! ” 

But, luckily, it was only for the instant that Larry’s 
senses left him. 

Before he and his fair burden had slid from the rock 
Larry pulled himself together mentally. He made a 
wild clutch to the right and to the left of him, and one 


18 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


of his hands came in contact with a sharp corner of the 
rock. The boy’s grip was a good one, and he clung to 
the side of the big stone with all his might. 

The water roared and dashed on all sides of the pair, 
and the girl screamed at the top of her voice. 

At that moment several ladies and gentlemen on 
horseback appeared on the bank close to them. 

“ Look! Look! A boy and a girl in the water! ” 
cried the foremost of the ladies. 

“ Why, it’s Maud Noxwell! ” ejaculated one of the 
gentlemen. “ How did she get down here ? ” 

“ We must save them! ” 

“ Get a rope ! ” 

“ There is a long fence rail. Won’t that reach the 
rock? ” 

The rail mentioned was brought forth and found to 
be too short by two feet. 

“ There is a longer rail back here,” cried one of the 
gentlemen, “ I’ll get that.” 

He sprang away and soon returned with the rail he 
had mentioned. One end was allowed to rest on the 
bank, while the other was dropped to the rock. 

Larry saw it coming and caught it. Then he placed 
the end where it could not slip. 

“ Come, hold fast now,” he said to the girl. 

She obeyed tremblingly, and with his fair burden 
clinging around his neck, Larry worked his way to 
shore. 


larry’s stoutheartedness 


19 


More than once it looked as if both would he swept 
away by the current, but at last the danger was past, 
and dripping wet, both stood once again on solid 
ground. 

“Maud, what can this mean?” cried one of the 
ladies of the party. 

“ I was on a raft, and it got away from the end of 
the garden,” replied the miss of ten. “ Mamma told 
me not to go on the raft.” 

“ You saved her life, young man,” said one of the 
gentlemen, turning to Larry. “ It is quite a feather 
in your cap.” 

“ Thanks,” returned the boy laconically. “We had 
a lively scramble of it, though.” 

“ I’m very much obliged,” said Maud Hoxwell, some- 
what stiffly. “ IT1 tell mamma what a brave boy you 
are.” 

“ That’s all right,” replied Larry hastily. “ Say, 
how can I get back to the other side? ” 

“ There is a bridge up the stream about a quarter of 
a mile,” replied the gentleman who had first addressed 
him. 

“ All right. I’m off.” 

“ Hold on. Do you belong here ? ” 

“JSTo; but I’m stopping just now at Mr. Howard 
Bruin’s place.” 

“ Oh ! ” The gentleman said no more, but turned 
away. 


20 


LAKEY THE WANDERER 


One of the ladies, who had not spoken to Larry, hut 
who had been watching him narrowly, now came for- 
ward. 

“ Young man, may I ask your name? ” 

11 Larry, madame.” 

“ And your last name ? ” 

“ Larry Curly.” 

“ You say you do not belong here? May I ask where 
you do belong? ” 

“ I came originally from New York, but I’ve 
knocked around a good bit in Philadelphia and other 
cities.” 

The lady seemed to become more interested than 
ever. 

“ And you say your name is Larry Curly? ” 

Before Larry could reply to the last question one of 
the other ladies rode up. 

“ Come, Lucy; we are waiting for you,” she said. 

“ Go on; I’ll be with you presently,” replied the 
lady. “ I wish to ask this — this noble young fellow a 
few questions, that is all.” 

“ Very well; meet us at the picnic grounds.” 

And the second lady rode off, followed by the others, 
one of the gentlemen allowing Maud to ride his steed 
to her house while he walked. 

“ And where may you be from, Curly? ” questioned 
the lady who had remained behind. 

(i New York City,” returned Larry, wondering if the 


larry’s stoutheartedness 21 

lady had forgotten his former answer to this ques- 
tion. 

“ I mean what part of New York? ” 

“ Oh ! As near as I can figure it, Cherry Street.” 

For a moment the lady was silent. Then she put 
out her hand. “ I think you are a noble young man to 
save Maud, and would be pleased to have you call at 
my house — after you leave Mr. Bruin’s place. My 
name is Mrs. Kennington, and I live in the white house 
on Eagle Lake, to the north of here. Any one can tell 
you where the place is.” 

“ Yes, ma’am,” answered Larry. He wondered why 
the lady wished him to call. 

The lady took another good look at the youth. Then 
she stepped to a nearby rock, mounted her horse and 
galloped off. 

“ By jinks ! this is strange ! ” murmured Larry, as he 
gazed after her. “ She looked at me as if she was try- 
ing to read my very thoughts. And there is something 
in her face that makes me think I have seen her before. 
But, pshaw! that’s only a notion.” 

Larry waited until the lady had disappeared from 
view, and then he hurried along the stream until he 
reached the bridge which had been mentioned to him. 

Although he was dripping wet and had lost his hat, 
he was not particularly down-hearted, and as he walked 
along' he whistled the air of one of the latest popular 
songs. 


22 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


Soon the boy heard the rattle of wheels. He looked 
along the road and saw Howard Bruin approaching, 
seated on a buckboard. 

“ I drove around to see what had become of you,” 
said the artist, who had put on a dry suit, and the 
horse’s head was turned back over the road he had 
come. 

It did not take long to reach the artist’s residence. 
Once there, Howard Bruin hunted up a suit and some 
underclothing for Larry and made the boy put them 
on. 

“ They are not the best in the world, but they are 
better than your old ones, and I want you to keep 
them,” he said. 

When Larry had dressed himself he had to tell the 
story of what had occurred on the other side of the 
stream, at the point which had been out of Howard 
Bruin’s sight. The artist hstened with close atten- 
tion. 

“ You mustn’t expect much from Mrs. Noxwell,” he 
said. “ She is known as the meanest woman in this 
county.” 

“ I don’t want anything,” replied Larry promptly. 
“ I didn’t do the girl a service for what I could get out 
of it.” 

“Well, Mrs. Hoxwell could well afford to do the 
handsome thing by you — she’s rich enough; but I 
doubt if she does anything.” 


lakey's stoutheartedness 


23 


“ Perhaps I won’t let her do anything, even if she 
tries. Do you know this Mrs. Kennington? ” 

“ Not very well. I understand, though, that she is 
a very fine lady.” 

“ She asked me a pile of questions.” 

“ I suppose she was curious to know something con- 
cerning such a hero, and ” 

“ Hold on, Mr. Bruin. I’m no hero.” 

“ Yes, you are.” 

“ Not much. I’m an everyday boy, down on my 
luck. And, say! ” 

“ What now? ” 

“ That barn isn’t cleaned up yet. I’m going down 
and finish up the job.” 

“ Very well, Larry. And you can stay to dinner if 
you wish.” 

“ Thanks; I never ref use a meal. It’s my one weak- 
ness. When you want me you can whistle.” And 
without further words Larry left the house, breaking 
out into a lively whistle as soon as he was out-doors. 

“ An odd sort, but a boy to my liking,” thought 
Howard Bruin. “ I wish I had work for him here, for 
I would like to study him. I must help him, since 
Cousin Percy treated him so meanly.” 

Once down in the barn, Larry set to work with a 
will. The structure was cleaned in every part, and 
then he began on the harness, polishing up the metal 
pieces until they shone like mirrors, and oiling the 


24 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


leather work. He was just finishing up when there 
came a loud whistle from the house. 

“ Can’t be dinner time yet/’ he thought, as he put 
the last of the harness away. 

As he approached the house he saw an old colored 
man sitting on the porch bench, talking to Howard 
Bruin. 

“ Larry, here’s a messenger to see you,” said the 
artist. “ This is Abe Jackson. He works for Mrs. 
Noxwell.” 

“ Am yo’ de young gen’man wot saved Miss Maud? ” 
asked the negro, rising. 

“ Well, I did something of that sort,” replied Larry 
modestly. 

“ Hen, Mrs. Hoxwell tole me to tell yo’ dat she’d be 
mighty pleased if yo’ would cum up to de house an’ 
call on her.” 

Larry looked at Howard Bruin as much as to say, 
“ What shall I do? ” 

“ You may as well go, Larry,” said the artist. 
“ Don’t let what I said hold you back.” 

“ All right, then,” returned Larry, and a few minutes 
later he and the colored man were on the way. 


CHAPTER III 


LARRY LEARNS SOMETHING 

Larry found the negro a talkative person, and on 
the road gained considerable knowledge concerning 
Mrs. Hoxwell and her only daughter Maud. 

“ She am a werry close pussun,” said Abe Jackson. 
“ I reckon she’s about de closes’ pussun yo’ kin meet in 
a day’s trabels.” 

“ What does she want of me? ” questioned Larry. 

“ Dat I can’t say. She t’inks a heap ob dat gal 
Maud, and mebbe she wants to show yo’ her ’preciation 
ob de situation.” 

“ I don’t want anything of her,” returned the boy 
briefly. 

“ Well, I reckon wot she gibs vo’ won’t break yo’ 
back to carry away,” grinned Abe. 

Larry found the Noxwell mansion a very fine one. 
It fronted on the main road, while the rear of the 
spacious grounds sloped down to the water. 

Abe Jackson ushered Larry into a magnificently- 
furnished hallway and motioned him to a seat. 

“ I’ll have to do something for the boy,” Larry heard 
a high-pitched and disagreeable voice say in a back 
25 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


26 

room. “ It won’t look well if I don’t. The neighbors 
would all talk about me.” 

“ He looked like a nice boy, but I guess he was a 
tramp,” came the reply, in the voice of the girl Larry 
had saved. 

“ A tramp? Well, we’ll soon see. If he’s merely a 
tramp, I’ll give him a dollar and his dinner and let him 
go.” 

The voices suddenly ceased, and there was a rustle 
of silk. 

“ She’s just what Mr. Bruin said she was,” thought 
Larry. “ I want nothing from her — wouldn’t take it 
if I was starving.” 

Larry was kept waiting for nearly ten minutes. 
Then Abe Jackson came and ushered him into the 
parlor. 

“ Here is de young gen’man, Mrs. Noxwell,” he said, 
and disappeared. 

“ So you are the young man who — ah — assisted my 
daughter after she had fallen into the water,” said 
Mrs. Moxwell, surveying Larry sharply from head to 
foot. 

“ Well, I did help her a little,” responded the boy 
briefly. 

“ Of course Maud might have saved herself, but I 
am very thankful to you for — ah — what you did.” 

“ You are welcome, madame.” 

Larry’s brief speech seemed to arouse Mrs. Hoxwell, 


LARRY LEARNS SOMETHING 


27 


and again she looked him over from head to foot. Then 
a slight frown rested on her unusually high forehead. 

“ Ho you — that is, are you employed around here? ” 
she said. 

“ No, madame, I’m out of a job.” 

“ Do you belong in Cleveland? ” 

“Well, that’s the last town I was in, but I came 
from Philadelphia.” 

“Ah, I see, and out of employment. Too bad! 
Have you had — ah — had dinner? ” 

“ Hot yet. I am to dine with Mr. Bruin, but came 
over here because your man said you wished to see 
me.” 

“ Mr. Bruin? Are you — what brings you to his 
place? ” cried Mrs. Hoxwell, and by her manner it was 
plain to see that there was no love lost between herself 
and the artist. 

“ Fortune, madame. And I find him a very nice 
man,” added Larry, who thought he saw a way of 
“ getting square ” for the insulting remarks she had let 
fall concerning him. 

“ He may be — to some. I have a different opinion,” 
replied the lady haughtily. “ But that has nothing to 
do with the matter at hand. As you are to dine with 
him, it will be useless to ask you to dine here. But I 
wish to reward you for your slight services to my 
daughter.” Here Mrs. Hoxwell brought out her purse. 
“ Allow me to present you with this bill in her behalf.” 


28 


LAKEY THE WANDERER 


And she held out a dollar hill toward Larry. 

“ No, thank you, I don’t wish it,” he replied, drawing 
back. 

If ever there was a surprised woman that woman 
was Mrs. Amanda Noxwell. She could not believe that 
she had heard aright. 

“ Did you — did you say you didn’t wish it?” she 
asked. 

“ That’s it, madame.” 

“ But— but ’ 

“ It was only a slight service — not worth paying 
for,” returned Larry, with a fine sarcasm which was 
entirely lost on the would-be lady before him. 

“ Yes, but you — don’t you need the money, young 
man? ” 

“ Yes — we all need money,” Larry laughed. “ But 
I prefer to work for what I get. I don’t live on 
charity.” 

Something in Larry’s tone caused Mrs. Noxwell to 
spruce up. 

“ Young man, are you — what do you mean? ” she 
demanded. 

“ Just what I said.” 

u You are impertinent.” 

“ Then what did you want to offer me a dollar for? 
I’m not in need of your money. Did you wish to see 
me about anything else ? ” 

“ Really, you are the rudest young man I ever saw! ” 


LARRY LEARNS SOMETHING 


29 


she returned tartly. “ A tramp, and won’t accept a 
dollar from one who wishes to do you a great service.” 

“ I prefer to stand on my own feet, madame ; that’s 
all.” 

“ Very well, then. But I can see your idea. You 
wanted me to increase the amount. But I won’t do it. 
You didn’t do much. Any one could have done it.” 

“ Is there anything else you wish to see me about? ” 

“ Certainly not.” 

“ Then I’ll take pleasure in leaving your place. 
Good-day.” 

Mrs. Amanda Noxwell merely looked at him, an 
expression intended for deep scorn upon her face. A 
second later Larry was out of the mansion and on his 
way back to Howard Bruin’s residence. 

“ Well, she’s the worst I ever struck! ” he declared 
to himself. “ She made me mad as soon as she opened 
her mouth. I wouldn’t want to work for her. I’ll 
wager Abe Jackson has no picnic of it.” 

When he arrived at the artist’s house he found 
dinner just being served by the housekeeper. Howard 
Bruin smiled at him as he entered. 

“ Hid you have a nice time ? ” he asked, as he mo- 
tioned Larry to a seat at the table. 

“ She is a — tartar ! ” burst out Larry. “ She thought 
she was going to do something big by offering me — 
what do you think? a dollar! It wasn’t the money, but 
her manner would provoke a saint.” 


30 


LAKEY THE WANDERER 


“ You are right there, Larry; I know her like a 
book. I once had a lawsuit with her over some prop- 
erty along the river, and I found out just what she 
was.” 

“ I hope you bested her? ” 

u I did. I was in the right, and I won the case. 
But she fought it tooth and nail to the end. Another 
case is still pending.” 

“ And now you are bitter enemies.” 

“ Worse than that. She has circulated stories about 
me, and she has made some folks in this neighborhood 
believe that I was not honest — as I told you when we 
first met.” 

“ Well, such a woman is worse than a serpent,” de- 
clared Larry. 

How true his words were to prove will be shown in 
the chapters which follow. 

Howard Bruin was so taken with Larry’s manner 
that when the midday meal was over he invited the boy 
to go fishing with him, saying he could stay at the place 
over night if he so wished. 

“ And to-morrow I’ll drive to Cleveland with you 
and see if I can’t get you some sort of a situation,” the 
artist added. 

This proposition just suited the boy, who was grow- 
ing weary of tramping from place to place looking for 
a situation, and he did not hesitate to accept the kind 
offer. 


LARRY LEARNS SOMETHING 


31 


“ I’m in no mental condition to work, so Fll knock 
off for the day,” Howard Bruin observed. “ We’ll go 
up to Eagle Lake and try our luck.” 

“ Eagle Lake? ” observed Larry. “ That’s the sheet 
of water upon which Mrs. Kennington’s house is situ- 
ated.” 

“ Yes; I’ll point the house out to you on the way to 
the fishing cove.” 

The two were soon off, and when Eagle Lake was 
reached the artist led the way to where a fine flat- 
bottom boat was moored. 

“ Can you row, Larry? ” 

“ Oh, yes ; I’ve rowed on the Harlem River, on the 
Delaware, and on some of the Great Lakes,” returned 
the boy. 

He was soon seated at the oars and proved a good 
stroke. 

“ There is Mrs. Kennington’s residence,” said the 
artist presently, as he pointed to a fine mansion 
painted pure white, and surrounded by bushes and 
trees. 

Larry looked at the place, and after a moment of 
silence his brow grew perplexed. 

“ What’s the matter?” questioned his companion. 
“ Anything wrong? ” 

“ I was just thinking, or trying to think,” returned 
the boy slowly. “ It seems to me I’ve seen some place 
like that before.” 


32 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ Quite likely. There are a number of such resi- 
dences scattered throughout the country.” 

“ I don’t mean that. I mean that I was thinking 
I had seen a place exactly like this.” 

“ Were you ever here before? ” 

“ ISTo.” 

“ Humph! Well, there may be such a house on 
such a lake as this somewhere.” 

“ I suppose that’s it.” 

“ A boat is putting off from Mrs. Kennington’s 
dock,” observed Howard Bruin, a moment later. 
a There is a young fellow in it, Gregory Kennington, 
the widow’s only son.” 

“ Then she is a widow? ” 

“ Yes. This Gregory is a good-for-nothing, and I 
understand he nearly worries the life out of his 
mother.” 

“ It’s a pity his father isn’t alive to take him in hand, 
then.” 

“ That’s true. He has it too easy, you see. He 
ougljt to be thrown out on his own resources.” 

“ Like myself, for instance,” laughed Larry. 

“ Exactly, Larry. Though you may not know it 2 
roughing it has made a good deal of a man of you.” 

“ I believe you, sir. I’ve found out I’m not of so 
great importance, after all, and I know a good thing 
when I see it — a snap like this, for instance,” and 
again the boy laughed, the man joining. 


LARKY LEARNS SOMETHING 


33 


“ You are an odd sort in some ways,” he said. “ And 
you Here comes Gregory Kennington! ” 

As Howard Bruin spoke he pointed to a fine row- 
boat that was headed in their direction. It contained 
a young man, faultlessly attired in a jaunty outing cos- 
tume, and smoking a cigarette. 

“ Hullo ! ” cried the young man, as he drew closer. 
“ Want to race? ” 

“ Don’t care if I do,” answered Larry lightly. 

“ Bet you a dollar I can beat you,” went on Gregory 
Kennington. 

“ Haven’t got a dollar to put up.” 

The rich boy drew closer, and soon the two boats 
were going along side by side at a fair rate of speed. 

Gradually, however, Larry began to draw ahead. 

“ Good-by, slow boots ! ” he cried. 

This appeared to make Gregory Kennington very 
angry, and of a sudden he turned the bow of his craft 
toward the other boat. 

“ Look out, you’ll run into us ! ” cried Howard 
Bruin. 

An instant later there came a crash, and the water 
splashed in all directions. Larry was considerably 
wetted, and Gregory’s boat springing aleak, began to 
fill. 

“ What did you do that for? ” cried Larry. 

“ It wasn’t my fault, you little fool,” answered 
Gregory Kennington. 


34 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ Don’t yon dare to call me a fool ! ” retorted Larry, 
when, without warning Gregory Kennington reached 
over with an oar and struck him on the shoulder. 

At once Larry arose and started to defend himself 
with his own oar. The rich boy saw the move and tried 
to back away. But in doing this he lost his balance 
and in a trice fell overboard with a loud splash. 



Larry arose and started to defend himself. — Page 34 



CHAPTER IV 


MORE TROUBLE FOR LARRY 

“ There, that serves the fellow right ! ” exclaimed 
Howard Bruin, as Gregory Kennington disappeared 
for a moment beneath the waters. 

“ Save me! Don’t let me drown! ” gasped the young 
man, as his head bobbed up. “ I — I didn’t mean any- 
thing! ” 

“ Will you behave yourself if we take you in? ” de- 
manded Larry. 

“ Yes, yes! ” 

“ All right, then, climb in. But be careful, or you’ll 
upset the boat, and be worse off than before.” 

Gregory Kennington would willingly have dumped 
Howard Bruin and Larry into the lake, but just now 
he was too anxious for his own safety to think of taking 
any risk. He caught hold of the gunwale of the flat- 
bottom boat and was soon on board. 

“ You — you — what do you mean by knocking me 
overboard?” he cried, as soon as he could eject the 
water from his mouth. 

“ What do you mean by hitting me first ? ” retorted 
Larry. 


35 


36 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ You ran into my boat! ” 

“It was your fault!” put in Howard Bruin. 
“ Larry was steering straight ahead, while you turned 
in. Here, let me help you.” 

“ Rot and nonsense! ” stormed Gregory, wiping his 
face with Howard Bruin’s handkerchief. “ You’ll 
have to pay for the boat.” 

“ You won’t get the price out of me ! ” laughed 
Larry. “ I told you before that I hadn’t a dollar.” 

“ Then Howard Bruin will pay the damages.” 

“ Hot a cent ! ” declared Larry. “ Don’t you do it, 
Mr. Bruin.” 

“ I don’t intend to,” returned the artist calmly. “ It 
was not our fault that the boat was damaged.” 

“ You’ll see,” grumbled Gregory, and that was all he 
could say. 

“ Where do you want us to land you? ” asked Larry. 

“ Land me?” 

“ Yes. We are not going to take you along.” 

“How about my boat?” 

“ We’ll take that in tow.” And Larry turned the 
flat-bottom craft toward the waterlogged boat behind 
them. 

“ Take me back to our dock,” snapped Gregory. 

Howard Bruin, who sat in the stern, caught hold of 
the bow of the other boat, and then Larry pulled for 
the spot which Gregory had mentioned. 

All dripping with water the young man sat in the 


MORE TROUBLE FOR LARRY 


37 


bow seat, his face dark and full of hatred. Larry had 
his back to him and had he dared Gregory would have 
played some underhand trick upon the boy. But Ho- 
ward Bruin’s eyes were on him and he did not move. 

In a few minutes the little dock projecting from the 
foot of Mrs. Kennington’s garden was reached. The 
artist shoved the damaged boat in between some spiles, 
and Gregory jumped ashore. 

“ You haven’t heard the last of this!” he cried, 
shaking his fist at Larry. “ I’ll get square with you, 
mind that! ” 

“ Shall I row away? ” Larry asked of his companion. 

“ Yes,” replied the artist. 

“ You think I’ll let it go, but I won’t,” howled Greg- 
ory to Howard Bruin. “ Just you wait and see! ” 

They left the young man on the dock shaking his fist 
at them. It was not long before Larry had pulled out 
of hearing distance. 

“ He makes me tired all over,” observed the boy, as 
he headed for the cove the artist pointed out. “ He 
evidently hasn’t much of his mother’s disposition about 
him.” 

“ You are right there, Larry. Mrs. Kennington is a 
perfect lady, in the best sense of the word. I don’t see 
where Gregory gets his manner.” 

“ Perhaps from his father? ” 

“ Ho; his father was a very fine man, too, so I under- 
stand.” 


38 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


The spot selected for fishing was soon reached and 
then the lines were brought out, fitted up and cast 
over. Howard Bruin proved himself a thorough fisher- 
man, and in the course of an hour pulled in eight 
perch of good size. Larry caught five, including the 
largest of all. 

“ Good; that’s a banner fish! ” cried Howard Bruin. 
“ We’ll have him broiled for supper.” 

“ It looks to me as if we were going to have a storm,” 
observed Larry, a quarter of an hour later. u What do 
you think? ” 

“ It may be nothing but wind,” returned the artist, 
looking up at the mass of black clouds sweeping across 
the sky to the southward. “ We often get a blow from 
that quarter.” 

Ten minutes later large drops of rain began to 
fall into the boat. They were scattered at first, but 
soon settled into a steady downpour. 

“ What’s to do now? ” asked Larry, as he turned up 
his coat collar. “ We’ll be drenched if we row all the 
way back to your house.” 

“ Row across to that strip of sandy beach,” replied 
the artist, pointing out the spot mentioned. u We can 
find a good shelter back of that.” 

Larry at once took the oars, leaving his companion 
to pull in such of the lines as were still out. As the 
boat made its way across Eagle Lake the downpour 
became greater, while the wind increased in violence. 


MOKE TROUBLE FOR LARRY 


39 


Once or twice the waves broke over the side and Larry 
found himself compelled to head for a point some dis- 
tance above the sandy beach where they had first in- 
tended to land. 

“ That won’t matter/’ said the artist, as he saw that 
the boy was unable to keep the course. “ We’ll tie up 
at the old tree yonder. I know of a place but a 
hundred feet from there where we can find shel- 
ter.” 

He had hardly finished when Larry brought the boat 
up to the tree mentioned. The boy sprang out and in 
a trice had the craft secured. 

“ Follow me! ” cried Howard Bruin, just as an extra 
heavy gust of wind and rain set in. “ Hurry up, if you 
don’t want to catch it worse than ever ! ” 

He made a quick dash through the brush, which at 
this point lined the lake, and Larry was not slow to 
follow him. Both went crashing through the bushes 
as fast as the tangled undergrowth would permit. 

In three minutes Howard Bruin came in sight of a 
tumbled-down cottage, standing upon an old and nearly 
obliterated wagon road. The cottage was dilapidated 
to the last degree, the porch having rotted and fallen 
away, and also the door and several of the shutters of 
the windows. 

“ We’ll get in here till it’s over,” said the artist, and 
he rushed into the open front room. 

Larry was close upon his heels. Hardly had they 


40 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


reached the shelter when the storm burst in all of its 
fury. There were no thunder and lightning, but the 
wind and rain were terrific, the latter driving far into 
the cracks of the shelter. 

“ It’s lucky we struck this place,” observed Larry, as 
he shook the water from his hat. “ My, but this is a 
corker! ” 

“ Yes, we should have been drowned out on the 
lake,” returned the artist. “ Well, there’s one consola- 
tion; such a storm as this can’t last. It will be over in 
an hour.” 

A moment later came a slight lull. During it, 
Larry was on the point of making some remark con- 
cerning the fish they had caught, when voices from a 
rear room broke upon their ears. 

“ I told you I wanted fifty dollars to-day,” came in 
rough tones. “ Why didn’t you bring it over? ” 

“ I couldn’t raise it, Pete,” was the reply, and both 
Larry and Howard Bruin started, for the voice was 
that of Gregory Kennington. 

“ That an old story, Greg, and it won’t wash. 
Don’t you know that you are standing on the edge of 
a volcano, and that you must do just as I say? Sup- 
posing I told folks what I know of you? What would 
happen then, eh? ” 

“ You wouldn’t dare, Pete Lomax! ” burst out Greg- 
ory Kennington. 

“ Wouldn’t dare? Try me and see. I want money, 


MOBE TEOUBLE FOE LAEEY 


41 


and I want it regularly, too; and you’re bound to 
supply me ! ” 

A fierce rush of wind and rain drowned out Gregory 
Kennington’s reply. 

Howard Bruin and Larry looked at each other in 
wonder. What did that strange interview in the next 
room mean? 

“ Gregory Kennington has gotten himself into more 
trouble, it would seem,” whispered Howard Bruin to 
Larry. 

“ That’s the way the talk runs,” responded the boy. 
“ Who is the man he is talking to ? ” 

“ I don’t know. I’ll see if I can get a look at him. 
I don’t know that it’s just right for us to listen to what 
they have to say.” 

“ I suppose you’re right, sir, but if we show our- 
selves Kennington will only kick up a row about his 
boat.” 

The door to the next room was open a few inches, 
and through this crack the artist peered. Larry looked 
over his shoulder. 

They saw Gregory Kennington standing near the 
big fire-place, puffing vigorously away at the end of a 
cigarette. His face was pale, and it was plain to see 
that he was considerably disturbed, if not actually 
frightened. 

Close at hand, on a rude bench made of a board 
nailed on the tops of a couple of boxes, sat a middle- 


42 


LAEEY THE WANDEEEE 


aged man. His hair was of a reddish tinge, as was 
also his beard, and his face was repulsive and ill-na- 
tured. The man smoked a short brief pipe, which was 
grasped tightly between two rows of stumpy, yellow 
teeth. His clothing was of a decidedly “ loud ” pat- 
tern, and he wore a heavy watch chain and several 
rings. 

“ I have seen that man in Cleveland,” whispered 
Howard Bruin as he and Larry drew back. “ He’s a 
tough-looking customer.” 

“ I’ve seen him somewhere, too,” replied Larry. “ It 
runs in my mind it was in Hew York, but I’m not 
sure.” 

The wind now ceased for a time, and the conversa- 
tion between Gregory Kennington and his strange 
companion continued. 

“ I haven’t had a dollar in over two weeks, and I 
can’t stand it,” growled the man on the bench. “ I 
don’t propose to go without money when you have 
plenty.” 

“ I can’t get much cash,” pleaded Gregory. “ My 
mother won’t give it to me.” 

“ Make her.” 

“ I can’t do that. I tried it once and we had a great 
row. She almost threatened to put me out of the 
house.” 

Pete Lomax laughed coarsely. 

“ It would be funny if you were put out,” he snick- 


MOEE TEOUBLE FOE LAEEY 


43 


ered. u Blit I reckon it won’t come to that. She thinks 
too much of her only precious boy! ” and again the 
man laughed. 

“ Quit that! ” exclaimed Gregory, “ unless you want 
me to clear out at once. I don’t like your joking, Pete. 
Let’s talk about something else.” 

“ But how about that money? ” 

“ I’ll get what I can for you and give it to you to- 
morrow morning.” 

“ Where will you meet me ? ” 

“ At the old mill on the other side of the lake.” 

“ You won’t fail me? ” 

“ No; I’ll give you my word. I never went back on 
you yet, did I? ” 

“ Humph ! you wouldn’t dare. My hold on you is 
too good.” 

Gregory Kennington seemed to wince, and in anger 
threw away the end of the cigarette and lit a fresh 
one. 

“Have you been doing anything lately, Pete?” he 
asked, after a pause, broken by another rush of wind 
and rain. 

“ Hot much. I’m studying up something new.” 

“ In what line? ” 

“ That’s my business. I reckon I’ll get out of this 
neighborhood before long.” 

“ It won’t do for me to be seen in your company,” 
observed Gregory pointedly, after another pause. 


44 


LAEEY THE WAHDEEEE 


“Well, I suppose that’s so,” returned Pete Lomax 
slowly. “ You’ve got to keep up appearances, or the 
old lady will go back on her darling, eh? Well, as I 
said before, I’m going to leave soon.” 

“ Where are you going to ? ” 

“Don’t know yet. But don’t worry; you’ll hear 
from me often enough.” 

“ I suppose so,” growled Gregory. “ You intend to 
squeeze what you can out of me right along.” 

“ Haven’t I the right? ” 

To this the young man did not reply. A moment 
later Pete Lomax started to his feet and moved toward 
the kitchen door. “ I can’t waste any more time here,” 
he said. “ Come on, it’s breaking away.” 

“ I don’t want to get wet again,” growled Gregory. 
“ I’ve been wet once to-day, through and through.” 

“ I£ow was that? ” 

“ A young tramp ran into my boat, and I went over- 
board.” 

The two then passed out of the cottage, and Larry 
and Howard Bruin heard no more. 

“ Well, I declare! ” burst out the artist. “ I never 
thought this of Gregory Kennington, as bad as I know 
him to be. What a worthless character he must be! ” 

“ And what a scamp that Lomax is,” added Larry. 
“ He’s a bad man for any one to make a friend of.” 

“ There is some mystery between the pair,” Howard 
Bruin resumed, after reflection. “ Lomax appears to 


MORE TROUBLE FOR LARRY 


45 


have some hold upon Kennington. He must know some 
secret concerning the young fellow’s doings.” 

“ The secret must be a questionable one or Gregory 
wouldn’t be so anxious to keep it from being known.” 

“ Gregory pretends to be quite a sport. Perhaps he, 
too, is not fair in his dealings.” 

“ It’s a shame that a fellow with the advantages he 
has wouldn’t make better use of them,” said Larry 
somewhat bitterly. “ I would just like to be situated 
half as well as he is.” 

The pair soon left the cottage and make their way 
down to the bank of the lake. The storm had cleared 
off as quickly as it had gathered, and overhead the sun 
was striving to break through the masses of fleeting 
clouds. 

Larry shoved the boat off and wiped the seats dry 
with a sponge taken from the stern locker. Then 
Howard Bruin leaped in and they started on the return. 
The trip was an uneventful one, and inside of an hour 
they were safe once more at the artist’s summer home. 

Maggie, the housekeeper, eyed the string of fish with 
sparkling eyes. 

“ A fine catch, sure ! ” she said. “ And ain’t this 
fellow a big one ? ” 

“ That’s Larry’s haul,” said Howard Bruin. “ We’ll 
have him for supper, Maggie.” 

“ Yes, sir.” 

“ I have an idea,” said Larry, when the two were 


46 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


alone, “ if I can’t strike a job in Cleveland, I might 
try my luck fishing in the lake and selling what I 
caught.” 

Howard Bruin thought for a moment. “ That would 
be better than doing nothing,” he said. “ Of course, 
you wouldn’t make a fortune, but you might do quite 
well during the summer season, supplying fish to folks 
in Cleveland and up at the summer hotels.” 

“ The trouble is I haven’t a boat.” 

“ I’ll lend you mine, and you can have all the lines 
and other traps, too. I don’t go fishing more than once 
a month.” 

“Well, if you’ll loan me the things, I’ll agree to 
supply you with all the fish you wish, free of charge. 
That’s fair, isn’t it? ” 

“ Yes, Larry, but I would prefer to buy the fish 
from you.” 

“ Then I won’t take the boat,” returned the boy, 
with some of the spirit he had exhibited when Howard 
Bruin had first discovered him resting in the barn. 

. “ You won’t? ” 

“Ho; I want to pay my own way. You’ve done 
enough for me already.” 

“ Well, do as you like. But where are you going to 
put up ? ” 

“I don’t know, but I reckon I can find a cheap 
room somewhere, and I’ll board myself.” 

“ There is a furnished room upstairs in the barn, 


MOKE TROUBLE FOK LARRY 


47 


built for a hired man who left me six months ago. If 
you wish to sleep there you are welcome to do so.” 

“ Thank you, that will save me the price of the 
room.” 

“ And you must take your meals at the house.” 

“ But I don’t want them for nothing — not as long as 
I can possibly make enough to pay for them.” 

“ Well, you shall work out the pay around the house, 
doing odd jobs when you are not fishing. All supposing 
you can’t get a situation in town.” 

And so it happened that this matter was settled, for 
on going to Cleveland Howard Bruin was unable to 
obtain a situation for Larry, although there was every 
prospect of the boy getting an opening in the fall. 

Larry’s first week on the lake netted Him three dol- 
lars and a half. He sold his fish at three of the 
summer hotels situated among the hills on the south 
shore, and received standing orders which promised 
very well. 

“ Hot so bad for a start,” he told himself. “ It’s 
better than tramping around, looking for a job. And 
perhaps I’ll do much better after the folks around here 
know me.” And after that he kept at his work stead- 
ily, day in and day out. There was not a lazy bone in , 
Larry’s entire make-up, which was greatly to his 
credit. 

The boy could not help but think of Gregory Ken- 
nington and Pete Lomax, and of what he had over- 


48 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


heard, but, strange to say, he saw nothing further of 
the unworthy pair. 

“ I suppose they met at the old mill,” Larry thought. 
“ Well, it was not particularly my business, I’ve got my 
own affairs to attend to.” And he dismissed the matter 
from his mind. 


CHAPTER V 


A STRANGE HAPPENING 

“ Hullo, there, young fellow! ” 

It was nearly a month later and Larry was rowing 
along the north shore of Eagle Lake one morning when 
the hail came to his quick ears. He looked up and saw 
a rather shabby man standing on a flat rock, waving his 
hand vigorously. 

“ Hullo! ” returned the boy. “ What’s wanted? ” 

“ Will you take me across the lake, boy? ” returned 
the man quickly. 

Larry hesitated. He was not above doing a favor, 
but it was quite a pull across the lake, and to him just 
then “ time was money.” 

“I’ll give you a quarter,” went on the man, as he 
saw the boy hesitate. 

“ I’ll do it,” replied Larry promptly. 

“ Then row in without delay. I’m in a big hurry.” 

“ All right, sir.” 

Larry turned the head of the boat toward shore, 
and in a couple of minutes sheered up alongside of the 
rock. The man at once jumped into the boat, giving a 
hasty glance over his shoulder as he did so. 

49 


50 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ Do yon see that clump of poplars over there? ” he 
asked, pointing somewhat slantingly across the lake. 

“ Yes.” 

“ Well, I want to go there, and row as hard as you 
can.” 

“Want to catch a train on the mountain road?” 
questioned Larry, as he started on the journey across 
the water. 

“ What business is that of yours ? ” exclaimed the 
man fiercely. Then his manner changed suddenly. 
“ Excuse me for being so rough, but I ? m all put out 
to-day.” i 

Larry said nothing. His passenger sat on the stern 
seat, so that the boy had a full view of his face. He 
noticed that the lines around the mouth and eyes were 
unusually hard and that the man had a scar near his 
right ear. 

“Sizing me up pretty well, eh?” questioned the 
passenger abruptly, as he suddenly raised his heavy 
eyebrows and shot a keen glance at Larry. 

“ Oh, not particularly,” responded the boy coolly. 
“ Fm something of a stranger around here and I want 
to learn the faces of the people in the neighbor- 
hood.” 

“ W ell, it won’t do you any good to study me,” said 
the strange passenger, with a short laugh, which, how- 
ever, was strained. 

“ Why?” 


A STRANGE HAPPENING 


51 


“ I’m a stranger here, and it’s more than likely I’ll 
never come back.” 

To this Larry made no reply. In fact, he was now 
exerting all of his strength to row the boat across in 
the shortest space of time. 

The mysterious passenger said no more for the time 
being. Occasionally he would turn his head and look 
back, and he did this in such a sly fashion that Larry’s 
suspicions were aroused. 

“ I must get to Chicago without delay,” said the 
passenger abruptly. “ I received a telegram this morn- 
ing urging me to come. I am watching for a friend 
who was to accompany me, but I reckon he’s gone back 
on me.” 

“ Did he know you were coming this way? ” 

“ Certainly.” 

Again Larry was silent. He wondered how the man 
could make an appointment to cross the lake from the 
rocks they had just left, when it was only by chance 
that he had procured passage across. 

The man carried no luggage further than a small 
hand satchel, which he had deposited on the seat beside 
him. As has been noted, he was rather shabby, and 
now Larry noticed that he looked as if he had neither 
washed himself nor combed his hair that morning. 

A few minutes later the shore on the other side was 
reached. On the instant the man caught up his satchel 
and leaped to the ground. 


52 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ So long, boy,” he said. 

“Hold on; haven’t yon. forgotten something?” 
called ont Larry, following him. 

“ What’s the matter with yon? ” 

“ Yon promised me a quarter for this job.” 

“ So I did. Excuse me; here yon are, if you’ve got 
change for a dollar.” 

The man brought forth a silver dollar and Larrj 
dove down into his pocket for the change. 

At that moment a wild cry came from the other side 
of the lake. Larry looked across and saw three men 
running along the shore as if searching for a boat. 

“ Is that your friend? ” he questioned. “ If it is, 
I’ll go and bring him over.” 

The boy received no reply to his question and turned 
to see why his late passenger Pad not answered. To 
his intense surprise the shabby-looking man had dis- 
appeared. 

“Hullo, what does this mean?” thought Larry. 

“ Where are you? ” he called out. 

A crashing in the bushes in the direction of the road 
which led to the nearest station was the only reply the 
boy received. He followed the sound, and, on reaching 
the road, was just in time to perceive the man hurry- 
ing toward the depot as fast as his long legs would 
carry him. 

“ Well, he’s in too much of a hurry,” said Larry to 
himself, as he walked back to his boat. “ Perhaps he 


A STRANGE HAPPENING 


53 


received a telegram that somebody was dying. He 
looked considerably worried.” 

When the boy reached his boat he saw that the three 
men on the other shore were still walking np and down 
as if searching for something. 

“ PH row over and see what it means,” was Larry’s 
resolve, and he was soon propelling the craft across 
Eagle Lake at a good rate of speed. 

“ Hi, hi! ” called out two of the men, as soon as he 
came within hailing distance. 

“ What’s wanted? ” asked Larry, as he gave a final 
stroke and then unshipped his oars. 

“ Come in here.” 

Larry allowed the boat to touch the rocks, and the 
three men gathered around him instantly. 

“ See anybody strange around here? ” demanded the 
leader of the party. 

“ Yes, a man. I just rowed him over to the other 
side.” 

u Did he have a big bag with him? ” 

“ Ho, only a small satchel.” 

The three men looked disappointed. 

“ Maybe we’re on the wrong track,” said one. 

u There might have been a couple of them, officer,” 
put in another. 

“ And they divided the spoils,” added the third. 

“ Where did that man go that you took across? ” de- 
manded the one called officer. 


54 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“He ran for the railroad station,” replied Larry. 
“ Was there anything wrong about him? ” 

“ Mrs. Hoxwell’s house was robbed last night, and 
it ? s most likely he’s one of the thieves.” 

“Robbed!” ejaculated Larry. “Did the thieves 
steal much ? ” 

“ Quite a good bit. We haven’t the full particulars 
yet.” 

“ Maybe that was one of the thieves,” went on the 
boy. “ He was in a fearful hurry to get across the 
lake.” 

“ How did you come to take him over? ” 

Larry related the particulars of the meeting. The 
officer and the other two men listened with interest. 

“ Take me over without delay,” said Officer Angus 
when Larry had finished. “ You may go back to the 
house,” he added to his companions. 

The passage across the lake was soon accomplished, 
despite the fact that Larry’s arms ached from the un- 
usual strain. When they reached the clump of poplar 
trees Larry pointed out the direction the shabby 
stranger had taken. Curiosity led the boy to tie up and 
follow Officer Angus to the road and then on to the 
railroad station, less than half a mile distant. The 
depot reached — it was but a small affair, being used 
only during the summer months — they looked around 
eagerly for some trace of the fugitive. He was no- 
where in sight. 


A STRANGE HAPPENING 


55 


u He’s gone, that’s certain,” came from Larry. 

“ There was a train left here ten minutes ago,” said 
the officer. “ He might have taken that. I will in- 
terview the depot agent.” 

When this individual, who had entire charge of 
tickets and baggage, was appealed to he shook his 
head. 

“ Ho such man around here,” he said decidedly. 

“ But he must have come this way,” returned Larry. 

“ Didn’t see him, and I watched every one who got 
aboard. There were just six passengers — two old men, 
a boy, and three ladies.” 

Several others standing around were appealed to, 
but every one shook his head. Hot one had seen the 
shabby-looking stranger, and all were certain that he 
had not boarded the train. 

“ Well, if that’s the case, then he merely came this 
way to throw me off the track,” observed Larry. “ He 
probably knew that I was curious to know what became 
of him.” 

“ Humph ! ” returned Officer Angus. “ See here, 
boy, what’s your name ? ” 

“ Larry Curly.” 

“ Where do you live ? ” 

“ I have a room in Mr. Howard Bruin’s barn. I am 
on the lake catching fish most of the time.” 

At the mention of Howard Bruin’s name the officer 
gave a low whistle. 


56 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ So you live with Howard Bruin, eh? 99 

“ In his barn.” 

“ Does he board you? ” 

“ Yes.” 

“ How long have you boarded with him? 99 

“ Only a short time, sir.” 

“ Humph! Where did you come from? ” 

“ That’s my own business.” 

The officer stared at Larry for this imprudent state- 
ment, and then caught him by the arm. 

“ See here, boy,” he cried. “ You just come along 
with me.” 

For the moment Larry was dumfounded. He tried 
to back away, but Officer Angus’ grip upon him was a 
good one, and it held. 

“ Let go of me ! ” cried the boy. “ I haven’t done 
anything wrong.” 

“ Perhaps not, but your manner is mighty suspi- 
cious,” was the officer’s cool response. 

“ I don’t see in what way,” retorted Larry hotly. 

“ I asked you where you came from, and you refused 
to answer. Ain’t that suspicious ? ” 

“ Well, perhaps it is. I was tramping around look- 
ing for work when I struck this region.” 

“ A tramp, eh? ” 

“ I suppose most folks would call me that. But I 
never begged or stole anything. I was always willing 
to work for whatever I got.” 


A STRANGE HAPPENING 


57 


u Humph! What are you doing for a living 
here? ” 

“ Mr. Bruin said I could have his boat and lines, and 
I catch fish for the hotels. It pays me three or four 
dollars a week.” 

“ Humph! I should suppose the boarders would 
catch their own fish.” 

“ They do sometimes. If it wasn’t for that I could 
earn more.” 

“ Well, that’s not here nor there. You rowed that 
thief across the lake, and I want you to come and give 
an account of yourself.” 

“ I hope you don’t think I was concerned in that 
robbery! ” cried Larry, his quick temper beginning to 
rise. 

“ I don’t say that. But if you’re as honest as you 
pretend to be, you’ll help us get on the track of the 
culprits.” 

“ I’ll do that willingly.” 

“ Then come back to the other side of the lake. We’ll 
go to Mrs. Noxwell’s house.” 

“ But are you not going to find that stranger? ” ques- 
tioned Larry, somewhat astonished at the officer’s 
proposition that they leave the vicinity. 

“ No; I’ll get one of the men to start a hunt for him. 
They’ll bag him sooner or later, if he’s around.” 

The last words were uttered with a significance which 
was not lost upon Larry. He readily understood that 


58 


LARKY THE WANDERER 


the officer suspected that the story concerning the mys- 
terious stranger was not true. 

Officer Angus called one of the depot loungers to his 
side and gave him directions concerning the search. 
Then he requested Larry to go back to the boat with 
him. 

The boy marched back willingly. Not for one mo- 
ment did he wish the guardian of the law to imagine 
that he was trying to shield any one or that he had 
anything to do with the robbery. 

“ By the way,” said Officer Angus carelessly, while 
Larry was again at the oars. “ Did you have a talk 
with Howard Bruin last evening? ” 

“ No, sir.” 

“ How was that? ” 

“ Mr. Bruin went off before I came back from my 
trip to the hotels with my fish.” 

“ Didn’t you see him last evening? ” 

“ No, sir; I went to bed before he got back.” 

“ Humph ! ” The officer compressed his lips. “ Did 
you see him at breakfast this morning? ” 

“ Oh, yes.” 

“Did he say where he had been the evening be- 
fore?” 

“ He started to spend the evening at the house of a 
friend in Cleveland.” 

“ But he did not? ” 

“ No; the friend was not at home.” 


A STRANGE HAPPENING 


59 


“ And then Mr. Bruin came home.” 

“ I suppose so. As I said, I didn’t see him.” 

The officer said no more. Larry watched him 
curiously, wondering what could be passing in his 
mind. 

As soon as the shore was reached a man came run- 
ning toward them. It was one of the two Officer Angus 
had left behind. 

“ Did you get that man? ” 

“ Ho.” 

“ I thought you wouldn’t.” 

“ Why? ” 

“ I reckon there wasn’t any man to get.” 

“ By jove! I had the same idea! ” exclaimed Officer 
Angus. “ But what makes you think ” 

“ Come on up to the house. Mrs. Hoxwell has made 
a most important discovery.” 

“ She has? What is it? ” 

“ She won’t tell until you come. But she said 
it would be time thrown away to run after strangers.” 

“ Has she spotted the thieves ? ” 

“ I reckon she has.” 

Larry listened to this conversation with keen curi- 
osity. He now turned to Officer Angus. 

“ You can say what you please; I took a stranger 
across the lake, and that’s all there is to it.” 

“ Well, I haven’t said that you didn’t,” snapped the 
officer. “ But more than likely he wasn’t the man we 


60 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


want. However, tie up your boat and come up to Mrs. 
Hoxwell’s.” 

The rowboat was made fast to an overhanging tree, 
and, between the officer and the other man, Larry 
marched up a side road which led to the beautiful 
grounds surrounding Mrs. Amanda Hoxwell’s resi- 
dence. 

Half a dozen people were about, all anxious to learn 
the particulars of the robbery which had been com- 
mitted. Among the crowd was Abe Jackson, who was 
doing his best to convince folks that he “ didn’t hab 
nuffin’ to do wid dat terribul fing, nohow! ” 

“ Why, where did you find that boy? ” demanded 
Mrs. Hoxwell, on catching sight of Larry. 

“ On the lake, ma’am,” replied Officer Angus; and 
in a few brief words he told his story. 

“ It’s a good thing you brought him with you,” said 
Mrs. Amanda Hoxwell. “ It’s a wonder he came 
along.” 

“He was kind of scary at first,” was the officer’s 
reply. 

“ I would think so,” said Mrs. Hoxwell coolly. 

Then she turned upon Larry suddenly. 

“ How, young man, what have you to say for your- 
self? ” 

“ I don’t know that I am called on to say anything,” 
retorted Larry, who did not like being addressed in 
such a sharp manner. 


A STRANGE HAPPENING 


61 


“ Oh, indeed!” she sneered. “ Perhaps yon fancy 
yon can face me down ! ” 

“ I don’t know what yon mean. I know nothing of 
this robbery further than that I rowed a mysterious 
stranger, who was in a fearful hurry, across the lake.” 

“ You are a bad boy, and I knew it the day you 
called here. You have had a splendid chance to injure 
me by helping the man who has taken you in.” 

u Won’t you explain matters, Mrs. Hoxwell? ” asked 
Officer Angus, while all the others present gathered 
around Larry and the lady. 

“ I will,” returned Mrs. Amanda Hoxwell in a loud 
voice. “ I have discovered clews in this house which 
prove conclusively that this robbery was committed by 
Howard Bruin, and I have ample reasons for believing 
that he was assisted in his nefarious work by this boy! ” 


CHAPTER VI 


FOR AND AGAINST 

All who had assembled in the room of the mansion 
listened with breathless interest to Mrs. Amanda Hox- 
well’s astonishing statement. 

For the instant after she had declared that she had 
clews which implicated Howard Bruin and reasons to 
think Larry had assisted the artist, no one spoke. 

Larry was the first to break the silence. 

“ Mrs. Hoxwell, do you really mean what you say? ” 
he gasped. 

“ I most certainly do,” returned the lady of the man- 
sion in icy tones. 

“ That Mr. Bruin robbed your house ? ” 

“ Yes, and that you assisted him, too.” 

Larry’s face flushed crimson. Then he strode for- 
ward with clinched fists. 

“ Mrs. Noxwell, you are a woman, so I’ll not touch 
you. But if you were a man and insinuated that either 
I or Mr. Bruin was a thief, I’d — I’d ” 

“ Here, here, none of that!” cried Officer Angus, 
catching the boy by the arm. “ There’s to be no fight- 
ing done here.”' 


62 


FOR AND AGAINST 


63 


“ Don’t worry; I won’t lay a finger on her,” retorted 
Larry. “ She isn’t fit to touch.” 

“ Oh, you — you viper! ” shrieked Mrs. Hoxwell, who 
had shrunk back when Larry first advanced upon her. 
“ Officer, will you not protect me from insults ? ” 

“ He had better protect me from them,” put in 
Larry. “ I am the one insulted. What right have you 
to say that Mr. Bruin is the thief and that I helped 
him?” 

“ I have good reasons,” snapped the lady of the 
house. 

“ I was not near your place, and I am certain 
Mr. Bruin was not, also.” 

“ Perhaps, Mrs. Hoxwell, you had better bring out 
your clews,” suggested Officer Angus, somewhat im- 
pressed by Larry’s determined stand to stick up for 
himself and his one friend. 

“ I will. Here is one of them. Look at it and ex- 
amine the initials.” 

As the lady of the mansion spoke she brought from 
the folds of her wrapper a large linen handkerchief and 
handed it to the officer. He inspected it as directed. 

“ Here are the initials ‘ H. D. S. B.’ in one corner,” 
he said slowly. 

“ Exactly; Howard D. S. Bruin,” returned Mrs. 
Amanda Noxwell triumphantly. 

u Are you sure those are his initials ? ” asked Officer 
Angus. 


64 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ Yes.” 

“ Do you know if they are — if this is his handker- 
chief ? ” went on the official, turning to Larry. 

“ Yes, those are his initials,” returned the boy 
slowly. “ But that may not be his handkerchief.” 

“ Pooh ! Do you think any one else around here has 
those particular initials? ” sneered Mrs. Noxwell. 

“ It’s not very likely,” replied the officer. 

“ And is that all the proof you have against Mr. 
Bruin? ” spoke up Larry quickly. “ Only a handker- 
chief, which might have been dropped by any one, and 
picked up by any one.” 

“ I have other proof,” snapped Mrs. Amanda Hox- 
well tartly. “ As some of the men here know, I was 
getting ready to begin a lawsuit against Howard 
Bruin.” 

“ I thought you had one with him, and he won,” said 
Officer Angus. 

“ So I did; but this is a second, far more important 
than the first. Well, in the chest which contained 
much of the silver plate that was carried off, and also 
the jewels which I intended to have reset, was a box 
containing the most important papers concerning this 
question of the disputed land, an old deed and a copy of 
a will with testifications. This box was broken open 
and those papers are gone.” 

The officer elevated his eyebrows. 

“ They would be of great value to Howard Bruin? ” 


FOR AND AGAINST 


65 


“ Yes, and to no one else. An ordinary burglar 
would have left them behind.” 

“ That is important, certainly.” 

“ Oh, there isn’t the slightest doubt in my mind but 
that Howard Bruin is the thief ! ” declared Mrs. 
Amanda isToxwell. 

“ But if he wanted the papers why did he steal the 
plate and jewels?” asked one of the men Larry had 
first met on the lake shore. 

“ He did that to throw off suspicion. He wanted the 
robbery to look like an ordinary one.” 

At this Officer Angus nodded his head approvingly. 

“ I see. Mrs. Hoxwell, you have a long head.” 

“ You are wrong,” cried Larry. “ I’ll stake my life 
on it that Mr. Bruin had nothing to do with this rob- 
bery. He is far too honest to do anything of the sort.” 

“ Your word doesn’t count,” sneered Mrs. Hoxwell. 
“ I have not spoken of your part in this transaction 
yet.” 

“ Me? What supposed clew have you against me? ” 

“ A better one than you perhaps imagine.” 

“ I have not been near your place since that day you 
asked me to call.” 

“ I think differently.” 

“ What makes you think this boy was a party to the 
theft ? ” put in the officer. 

“ I will tell you. Last evening, when it was growing 
dark, I happened to go into the room where the plate 


66 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


was stored. As I entered I saw somebody at the win- 
dow, looking into the room. It was a young man.” 

“ Hot me! ” cried Larry. 

“ I think it was he. I was going to ask the intruder 
what he wanted, when he turned and fled down the 
garden path. I hurried out of the house and over to the 
lake, and there I saw this boy in a boat, rowing away at 
the top of his strength.” 

“ That is not true ! ” cried Larry. “ I was not here.” 

“ I saw you in the boat, and so did Jackson, my 
man.” 

“ ’Deed I did,” put in the colored man. “ I knowed 
him by dat hat and coat, suah ! ” 

“ It is true I was on the lake in this vicinity,” cried 
Larry; “ but I was not ashore.” 

“ It certainly looks black for you,” said Officer 
Angus. “ Are you positive it was him looked into the 
window? ” asked the officer with a total disregard for 
grammar. 

“ Who else could it be? ” returned Mrs. Hoxwell. “ I 
saw no one in the garden, and when I reached the lake 
his boat was the only one in sight for a quarter of a 
mile.” 

The officer shook his head. 

“ And, therefore, I want this Larry Curly arrested,” 
went on Mrs. Amanda Hoxwell, with great asperity. 
“ And you must lose no time in arresting Mr. Howard 
Bruin also.” 


FOR AND AGAINST 


67 


u If we can find him,” said one of the men. 

“ Why, what do you mean ! ” cried the lady, turning 
quickly to him. 

u I wanted to see him about some trees this morning, 
and his housekeeper said he had gone off, and she 
couldn’t say when he would be back.” 

“ He has not run away, you may be sure of that ! ” 
burst out Larry. “ And you had better wait and hear 
his side of the affair before you condemn him. Mrs. 
Hoxwell’s story of the stolen papers may not be true.” 

“ You — you — wretch!” burst out the lady of the 
house furiously. “ How dare you say such a thing! ” 

“ I have as much right to my opinion as you have to 
intimate that Mr. Bruin and myself are thieves.” 

“ Why, you are nothing but a — a tramp! ” 

“ Hardly; but I might be if every one treated me as 
you did.” 

During the latter part of this conversation Maud 
Hoxwell had been edging her way to her mother’s side. 
She now caught her parent by the arm. 

“ Mamma, don’t forget that he saved me from drown- 
ing,” she whispered. 

For an instant a change came over the face of the 
lady of the house. Then it became as tightly drawn as 
before. 

“ I offered to reward him for that, Maud. I don’t 
believe he did as much as you claim. You could have 
gotten out of the river alone had you tried.” 


68 


LAKEY THE WANDERER 


“X doubt it, mother; the current was too strong.” 

“ Well, that’s a thing of the past. I must get back 
what was stolen.” 

“But don’t be harsh, mother,” pleaded the girl. 
“ He looks like an honest boy.” 

“ I know what is best, Maud. You had better keep 
quiet. This is no affair in which you are called to inter- 
fere.” 

The dutiful daughter shrank back, but not before 
Larry had given her a grateful look for her kind words 
in his behalf. 

“ Yes, Mr. Angus, I wish you to arrest him, and then 
hunt up Howard Bruin and get back the stolen things,” 
continued Mrs. Noxwell in a loud voice. 

“ We’ll recover the things if the deed can be done,” 
replied the officer. “ And if you make a charge against 
the two, why, I can’t do otherwise than arrest them.” 

“ See here, have you found no other clew than that 
handkerchief? ” asked Larry. 

“ Nothing,” returned Mrs. Noxwell. 

“ Have you looked carefully? ” 

“ Yes.” 

“ I went over the ground myself,” added the officer. 

“ So did I,” put in Abe Jackson. “ Dar wasn’t mi ffin ’ 
to see but dat handkerchief.” 

“ May I ask how the robbery was committed? ” 

“Hadn’t you better make a confession?” sneered 
Mrs. Noxwell. 


FOR AND AGAINST 


“ I have told the whole truth,” said Larry, trying to 
keep down that hasty temper of his. 

“ Oh, no doubt; but I imagine a few days behind the 
bars will bring you to your senses.” 

“ And perhaps when I am able to prove my inno- 
1 cence, you will be sorry you called the fellow who saved 
' your daughter’s life a thief,” returned Larry, giving 
her a parting shot, which was not without its effect upon 
! those around. “ Now, I am ready to go with you, Mr. 
3 Angus.” 

Five minutes later Larry and the officers were on 

1 their way to the Cleveland jail. 

> 


t 

t 


i 


I 


CHAPTER VII 


LAKEY GETS AN IDEA 


The town of Cleveland, of which we have spoken a 
number of times, consisted of between four and five 
thousand inhabitants. It was quite a bustling place, 
and one that was rapidly advancing, both in populatiou 
and manufactures. 

But though it owned and boasted of half a dozen 
handsome and substantial buildings, like the post office, 
town hall and the new theater, the jail at Cleveland was 
old and dilapidated. There had been considerable talk 
from time to time of erecting a new prison, but as yet 
nothing definite had been settled. 

This jail was situated in the rear of an office used by 
the local justice of the peace and police justice, and by 
the town constables or policemen, of whom Ofl^er An- 
gus was one. 

The jail was a long, low, one-story affair, built of 
brick and stone. The small courtyard around its two 
sides and rear was surrounded by an ^eight-foot board 
fence. The building was situated on a corner lot, so 
that one of the sides of the tall fence ran along the 
street. 


70 


LARRY GETS AN IDEA 


71 


When Officer Angus and Larry arrived at the jail 
office they found no one present but the police justice, 
who was dozing over a morning paper. 

“ Hello! what’s this?” asked the justice, flinging 
aside the paper and putting on that sharp look with 
which it was his custom to confront prisoners. 

“ A prisoner, your honor,” returned Angus. 

“ What’s he done? ” 

“ He’s suspected of robbing Mrs. Hoxwell’s man- 
sion,” said Angus, and while Judge Raum got out his 
book of records and began to write, the officer briefly 
stated the particulars. 

He had hardly finished before another constable 
came in, and soon after the new man and Angus went 
off to hunt Howard Bruin. 

The jail boasted of a man, who was janitor and 
keeper combined. This man, a person named Darwin, 
now took charge of Larry. 

“ I presume you can’t furnish bail? ” observed Judge 
Raum, as he finished writing up the record of the case. 

“ How much do you want? ” 

“Well, about a thousand dollars will do,” was the 
slow reply. 

“ I couldn’t furnish a thousand cents,” returned 
Larry, with a sinking heart. “ But it’s a shame to lock 
me up.” 

“ You will have a full hearing in the morning,” was 
the police justice’s reply. 


72 


LAKEY THE WANDEKEK 


“ Come with me/’ said Darwin, and he led Larry 
away. 

They passed through a long, narrow corridor, and 
then entered the jail proper. The place was divided 
into twelve cells, six on either side of the central hall- 
way. Each cell was eight feet square and had in it a 
small window up near the ceiling, covered with stout 
iron bars. 

“ Ell put you in cell six,” observed Darwin, as he 
led Larry to the farther end of the corridor. “ There 
are two drunken men in one and seven, and they kick 
up too much fuss to be near ’em with comfort.” 

“ Yes, please put me as far from them as possible,” 
returned the boy. “ I despise a drunkard, and besides 
I want to keep quiet and do some thinking.” 

“ Want to own up to what you’ve done? ” and Dar- 
win laughed. 

“ I have not done anything to own up to. I am 
innocent.” 

“ Humph ! That what they always say, every one of 
’em. Why, those two drunks would say they was sober 
if you asked ’em. It’s man’s nature to stick out that he 
ain’t done nothing wrong.” 

And with this bit of philosophy Darwin thrust Larry 
into cell six and closed and locked the door upon 
him. 

“ I’ll be on hand at meal times,” he said on parting. 
“ So don’t worry about being starved.” 


LARRY GETS AN IDEA 


73 


u I don’t feel like eating a mouthful,” declared the 
boy, and he told the truth. 

“ Your appetite will come back by meal time,” 
laughed Darwin. “ It always does, with all of 
’em.” 

The jailer walked away and poor Larry was left 
alone. The boy surveyed the cell into which he had 
been thrust and found it rather bare of furniture, 
containing nothing more than a cot with blankets, and 
a bench. 

Larry sat down on the bench and gave himself up to 
reflection. The two drunken men Darwin had men- 
tioned began to sing a popular song loudly, but he paid 
no heed to them. Of what had he been deemed guilty? 
"Was there any possibility that Howard Bruin had done 
as Mrs. Hoxwell charged? 

“ He can’t be guilty,” mused Larry. “ And as for 
myself, I know I am innocent. How, who is guilty? ” 

Larry could not help but think of the strange man 
who had been in such a hurry to cross the lake. 

“ If he had had any more baggage than that small 
satchel I would say he was guilty beyond a doubt. But 
he couldn’t carry much silver plate in such a small 
space, that’s certain.” 

Another matter which bothered the boy was the fact 
concerning the finding of his friend’s handkerchief on 
the scene of the robbery. How had that article come 
there ? 


74 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ It’s a sure thing Mr. Bruin didn’t take it there him- 
self,” murmured Larry meditatively. “ But if he 
didn’t, who did? The handkerchief didn’t blow there 
of its own account. The fact that the papers were gone 
proves nothing. Most likely the thief thought they 
might be of value to him, and took them to examine 
later.” 

The handkerchief clew hung in Larry’s mind despite 
all he could do to think of other matters — for instance, 
his own condition and what he would say when brought 
out for a hearing. The robbery seemed tb hinge upon 
that bit of linen and that alone. 

Suddenly, like a broad sheet of lightning, the mem- 
ory of what had occurred some time before flashed into 
his mind. He sprang to his feet and swung his clenched 
fist in front of him. 

“ I have it! That’s it, sure as fate! ” he cried. 

He remembered how Gregory Kennington had gone 
overboard into the lake during their quarrel, and 
how that young man had been assisted into the boat by 
Howard Bruin, and he also remembered how Howard 
Bruin had drawn forth his handkerchief and passed it 
over to Gregory with which to wipe the water from his 
face. 

“ And I’m pretty sure Gregory didn’t pass it back, 
but stuck it in his pocket in his excitement,” said 
Larry to himself. “ Is it possible that Gregory is the 
thief? ” 


LARRY GETS AN IDEA 


75 


It was hard to believe that the only son of Mrs. 
Kennington would be so bad. Larry had taken a 
strange fancy to the lady, and as he thought of the pos- 
sibilities of the case he found himself sympathizing 
with her because of her grief should Gregory be found 
guilty. 

“ If Gregory is guilty it must be because of the in- 
fluence of that Pete Lomax,” was Larry’s conclusion 
“ Lomax demanded money and threatened to expose 
Gregory if he didn’t get it. I suppose he knows some 
secret concerning Gregory’s foolish doings, and maybe 
as Gregory couldn’t get the cash in any other way he 
got desperate and robbed Mrs. Hoxwell. But if that 
is so, did he leave the handkerchief behind by accident 
or design? Beally, the whole thing is a puzzle.” 

In his excitement Larry paced up and down the cell 
for the remainder of the morning. At one o’clock Dar- 
win brought him a dish of pork and beans, bread, and a 
cup of coffee. Larry ate a few of the beans, and drank 
a mouthful of the coffee, and that was all. 

“ Have they found Mr. Bruin yet ? ” he asked. 

“ Hot yet,” returned Darwin. “ I reckon as how he’s 
skipped.” 

“ You are mistaken. Mr. Bruin did not run away. 
He has too much at stake here; and besides, he’s not 
guilty.” 

“ We’ll see,” returned the jailer briefly, and once 
more Larry was left to his own reflections. 


76 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


The two drunkards had now gone to sleep and the 
jail was as quiet as a tomb. Two hours passed — a 
period that seemed to Larry to be two days. Then 
Darwin once more appeared, followed by a lady. The 
latter was Mrs. Lucy Kennington. 


CHAPTER VIII 


LAEEY EESOLVES TO INVESTIGATE 

Laeey was greatly surprised to see his visitor, more 
especially after he had been thinking earnestly about 
the lady. He sprang up from his bench, and his face 
betokened more than ordinary interest. 

Mrs. Kennington was plainly dressed, and carried in 
her hand a bunch of flowers and some fruit. 

“ I presume you are surprised to see me,” she said 
in that sweetly sad voice which had made such an im- 
pression upon Larry before. “ But I make it a rule 
to call upon the inmates here and at the hospital once a 
week, and I could not resist the temptation to come and 
see you, too.” 

“ Thank you, ma’am,” returned Larry, somewhat 
awkwardly, for he hardly knew how to reply to her 
words. 

“ I suppose you feel rather lonesome here,” went on 
Mrs. Kennington, as she set the fruit and flowers on 
the bench, and offered him her hand. “ You will ac- 
cept those from me, won’t you? ” 

“ What, that fruit? ” 

“ The fruit and the flowers both. I brought them in 
for you.” 


77 


78 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ Indeed, ma’am, you are very kind! ” cried the boy. 
“ I didn’t expect anything of this sort.” 

u I suppose not. But as I said, I make this place to 
be one regularly visited, and I took a particular fancy 
to you the other day when you saved Maud Hoxwell’s 
life.” 

“ You did more than Mrs. Hoxwell did,” replied 
Larry bitterly. “ She has had me locked up! ” 

“ She claims to have reasons for doing that, Larry. 
But — but ” 

“ I wasn’t near her house when it was robbed.” 

“ I am glad to hear you say that, and your face looks 
as if it were the truth. But what of Mr. Bruin — do 
you know anything of him? ” 

“ I do not. But you can’t make me believe that he 
had anything to do with it.” 

“ It would not seem so, and yet Mrs. Hoxwell says 
the stolen papers were of great importance.” 

“ He wouldn’t stoop so low.” 

“ And you have no idea who the guilty party is ? ” 

On the instant Larry’s face grew crimson. What 
should he say? Should he cut this kind lady to the 
heart by revealing what was in his mind? 

“ I have an idea,” he returned hesitatingly. “ But I 
may be wrong.” 

“ That man you say you took across the lake ? ” 

“ That man — and another. But I would rather not 
speak of that, Mrs. Kennington? ” 


LARRY RESOLVES TO INVESTIGATE 


79 


u Not until' you are sure? ” 

“ That’s it.” 

“Well, perhaps it is best. I do not admire the 
person who accuses another of a crime without some 
proof.” 

Again Larry felt his heart beat painfully. How this 
good lady would suffer, if her only son was found 
guilty ! 

“ I’ll not say a word against him until I am certain 
he committed the theft,” was Larry’s mental resolve. 

“ You are to have a hearing in the morning, I be- 
lieve ? ” went on Mrs. Kennington. 

“ Yes, ma’am.” 

“ I trust you will clear yourself. By the way,” she 
continued, with a shade of anxiety crossing her brow. 
“ You had some difficulty with my son on the lake, I 
believe ? ” 

“ Yes, but I hope that is past.” 

“ His boat was damaged.” 

“ Yes, Mrs. Kennington, but that was not my fault. 
He ran directly into the boat myself and Mr. Bruin 
were in. The boat was wrecked and Gregory went 
overboard later on, but we hauled him in and took 
him to land.” 

“ Gregory is high spirited,” sighed Mrs. Kennington. 
“ Don’t imagine I think you were in the wrong. I am 
sorry to say I can do but little with him so far as con- 
trolling his temper and disposition are concerned.” 


80 


LAKEY THE WANDERER 


“Well, I’ve got a red-hot temper myself,” replied 
Larry with a short laugh. “ I suppose my remarks 
made him mad. Is he at home now, may I ask? ” 

“ISTo, Gregory has not been home since yesterday 
morning. He said he might take a trip to Chicago for 
a few days. He goes and comes pretty much as he 
pleases.” 

Mrs. Kennington heaved another sigh, and it was 
plain to Larry that the subject was a painful one to her. 
Yet he could not resist asking one more question. 

“ Did he go away alone? ” 

“ I do not know. He has some questionable com- 
panions, I believe, but they never come near the 
house.” 

“ I see. Well, I hope he turns up all right.” 

There was a significance to these words which Mrs. 
Kennington did not catch. Larry pitied the rich lady 
who could do nothing with her wayward offspring, and 
he wished he could fasten the robbery upon the head 
of another. 

A few minutes later Mrs. Kennington departed, 
after Larry had thanked her for her kind gift, and the 
boy was once more left alone. 

Somehow he could not touch the fruit and flowers 
she had brought. It seemed to him that it would not 
be right. Should he hunt down Gregory and prove 
him guilty it would be like a blow in the dark at her 
who wished to befriend him. 


LARRY RESOLVES TO INVESTIGATE 


81 


By the above it is easy to see that Larry was no com- 
mon boy. To be sure, having been cast upon the world 
to earn his own living, he had acquired many rough 
ways that were not to be admired, but these habits 
were only on the surface, so to speak; beneath was a 
heart of gold, as pure and as fine of feeling as one could 
wish. Surely no common blood flowed in this strange 
boy’s veins. 

The remainder of the afternoon wore on, and it 
speedily grew dark in the jail. Darwin came in with 
supper, which he left on the bench, and then all was 
locked up for the night. 

Larry slept soundly, considering what was on his 
mind. At the first appearance of dawn, however, he 
was up, long before Darwin came to take him to the 
room where he might wash up and comb his hair. 

“ Heard anything of Mr. Bruin yet? ” asked the boy 
eagerly. 

“ Ho. He was traced to Cleveland, and that’s all. 
Oh, he’s skipped, that’s certain,” replied Darwin, with 
a decided shake of the head. 

For the first time since he had been locked up Larry 
began to grow uneasy. What did this prolonged ab- 
sence mean? Surely it could not be that Mrs. Hoxwell 
was right after all in her surmise concerning the 
artist. 

At ten o’clock Larry was led into Justice Raum’s 
court room. He found the place crowded with men, 


82 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


anxious to hear whatever might be said. Mrs. Hoxwell 
and several other ladies were also present, and near 
the door sat Mrs. Kennington. 

The hearing was a short one, Larry being asked but 
few questions different from those put to him the day 
previous. Evidently Justice Raum wished to defer a 
hearing until Howard Bruin was located. 

“ But how long are you going to keep me without a 
trial? ” asked Larry. 

“ Well, not longer than a week, Curly.” 

“ A week!” 

“ That is not long. I might keep you a month if I 
wished.” 

“ And will I have to stay in jail a week? ” 

“ Unless you can furnish bail.” 

“ I can’t do that. But if you’ll let me go I’ll give 
you my word of honor that I won’t run away.” 

“ Sorry, my boy, but I can’t let you go on your own 
recognizance.” 

Then after he had been asked a number of questions 
about Howard Bruin and his habits, Larry was taken 
back to jail and the two drunkards were brought out 
for trial. 

The boy was in a downcast and bitter frame of mind 
as he dropped on the bench once more. A prisoner 
for a week or longer, and he had done nothing wrong! 

“ It’s not fair! ” he cried to himself angrily. “ It’s 
not fair. If I was out I would do my best to bring the 


LARRY RESOLVES TO INVESTIGATE 


83 


guilty party to justice, but what can I do cooped up 
here? Nothing; nothing at all! ” 

His hot-blooded indignation was fast coming again 
to the surface, and springing to his feet he began to 
pace up and down nervously. If he were only free — 
if only that prison door which held him in his cell was 
unlocked! 

Involuntarily he glanced toward the door, and walk- 
ing over he took hold of the bars. Then he gave a 
start, as if he could hardly believe his senses. The door 
was unlocked. When Darwin had turned the key the 
bolt had not slipped into its socket, but just in front 
of it. 

And but a dozen feet away was a door leading to the 
courtyard, and this door stood partly open to admit 
fresh air into the hot cells. The way to freedom was 
clear! 


CHAPTER IX 


LARRY MAKES ANOTHER FRIEND 

For an instant after Larry made the discovery that 
the cell door was not locked, only one thought filled his 
mind. 

Here was a chance to escape ! 

Such a chance might not present itself for a long 
time again; in fact, it was likely never to come, and 
why should he not take this opportunity to get away? 

He reasoned that he could secure no bail, and that 
he would have to remain behind the prison bars until 
brought out for trial. Then, when tried, how would 
he be able to free himself from the charges brought 
against him? 

“ Mr. Bruin is gone ! ” he muttered to himself. 
“ And that makes it look black for him. And he was 
my only friend! ” 

But then Larry thought of Mrs. Kennington, and 
how kind she had been to him, and, with his hand on 
the cell door, he paused. 

“ If I run away they will say I am guilty, beyond a 
doubt,” he reasoned to himself. “ They will say I un- 
locked the door, not that I found it open, and they 
84 


LARRY MAKES ANOTHER FRIEND 


85 


would put every constable in tbe county on my 
track and run me down sooner or later. No, I won’t 
go.” 

The boy turned from the door, and a moment later 
dropped upon the bench. The idea of running away 
had not been given up without a sharp mental struggle, 
but, somehow, Larry felt the better for it. 

Half an hour passed. Then came footsteps in the 
corridor, and Darwin appeared, followed by Mrs. Ken- 
nington. 

“ I could not resist coming in to see you before start- 
ing for home,” she said, while Darwin was bringing out 
his bunch of keys. 

“ Ho need for a key, Darwin,” said Larry to the 
jailer. “ The door is open.” 

“ What? ” gasped the man, and as he pushed against 
the door, and as it swung in, he added, “ Gee — rusalem! 
how did you open it? ” 

“ You didn’t lock it when you left,” returned Larry. 
“ The bolt didn’t catch.” 

Darwin grew pale, and then drew a long breath. 

“ When did you discover this ? ” he asked slowly, as 
he entered, followed by Mrs. Kennington. 

“ A while ago.” 

“ And it was really open? ” put in the lady, gazing 
at Larry with new interest. 

“Yes, ma’am.” 

Darwin gazed into the corridor to where the side 


86 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


door leading into the courtyard stood open. Mrs. 
Kennington’ s eyes followed the look. 

“ He could have run away easily enough, if he had 
wanted to,” she said somewhat triumphantly. 

“ I’m afraid that’s a fact,” replied the jailer soberly. 
“ But what gets me is how I could let the lock slip that 
way.” 

“ I think that proves he is an honest boy,” went on 
Mrs. Kennington. “ Larry, you deserve credit for not 
attempting to run away when you had such a good 
chance.” 

“ Well, to tell the truth, I did have a notion of go- 
ing,” replied the boy, blushing in spite of himself. 
“ But I thought it would look black against me, so I 
didn’t go.” 

“ I brought you some more fruit,” went on the lady. 
“ But I see you haven’t touched the other.” 

To this Larry did not reply. Mrs. Kennington looked 
at him strangely. For some reason she could not ex- 
plain she took a keen interest in this homeless boy. 

“ It does not seem right to have you locked up here 
if you are not guilty,” she went on. “ It is not a very 
nice place to stay in.” 

“ You are right there,” said Larry. 

“ Supposing ” she paused. “ I believe I can 

trust you, Larry.” 

“What — what do you mean?” he cried, a strange 
hope springing up in his breast. 


LARRY MAKES ANOTHER FRIEND 


87 


“ Supposing I go your bail. Will you give me your 
word of honor that you will not run away? ” 

“ You are too kind! ” 

“ Answer me.” 

“ I will, certainly. But — but I didn’t expect 
this! ” 

“ I presume not. Many would think me crazy to do 
such a thing, but for some reason I cannot explain I 
have taken a sudden fancy to you.” 

“ Thank you.” 

“ Finding the cell door open has made me believe in 
you more strongly than ever. I will go your bail.” 

Larry sprang up and grasped her hand. There were 
tears in his honest eyes. 

“ I won’t forget this, Mrs. Kennington ! ” he cried. 
“ I will do you a good turn for it some day, mark me. 
I have been a wanderer so long that I know what it is 
to be without a friend, so I can fully appreciate this 
kindness, and — and ” 

Larry’s heart was too full to say more, and he was 
compelled for the time to turn away. 

“ Come into Justice Baum’s private office,” went on 
the lady. u We will soon settle this matter.” 

She led the way, and Darwin quickly followed with 
Larry in charge. 

“ Say, don’t tell about that door being open, will 
you? ” whispered the jailer on the way. “ It might 
give me a heap of trouble.” 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ I won’t say anything unless I’m compelled to,” re- 
turned Larry. 

They were soon in the private office of Police Justice 
Kaum. It did not take long to acquaint the official with 
what was desired. 

“ You’re taking a great risk, Mrs. Kennington,” said 
the justice slowly. “ You hardly know the lad.” 

“ But I am satisfied that he is honest, and that is 
enough.” 

“ Well, well, just as you say. I’ll fix up a bond and 
you can sign it, and then he’ll be free to go where he 
pleases for a week.” 

The justice brought forth his legal paper and went 
to work. Five minutes later the document was signed 
by Mrs. Kennington, and Darwin witnessed it, and then 
the justice turned to Larry. 

“ You are free for a week from this morning, ten 
o’clock.” 

“ Thank you, sir, and thank you, Mrs. Kennington. 
I won’t forget this.” 

“ What will you do now, Larry? ” asked the lady. 

“ I want to see if I can’t find some real clew to the 
robbery, and also learn what has become of Mr. 
Bruin.” 

“ Then you will not come home with me for dinner? ” 

This invitation was a surprise to Larry. At first he 
thought of declining, then a sudden idea came into his 
mind and he hesitated. 


LARRY MAKES ANOTHER FRIEND 


89 


“ I didn’t know you wanted me to come/’ he said 
slowly. 

“ It was just an idea. You might come to dinner 
with me and tell me something about yourself, and then 
you can go off on your hunt.” 

The matter was talked over at some length, and 
finally the boy accepted the invitation to dine with the 
lady. 

“ Perhaps I will learn something concerning Gregory 
Kennington,” he thought to himself. “ I wish I could 
prove him innocent and somebody else guilty; not so 
much for his sake, but for the sake of his mother.” 

“ We will have a quiet meal together,” said Mrs. 
Kennington, as she led the way to where her carriage 
was standing. “ I doubt if Gregory comes home.” 

The carriage was a one-seated affair, drawn by a fine- 
looking team of grays. There was no driver, and 
Larry at once sprang forward to assist the lady in, and 
then unhitched the animals. 

“ It must be sport to drive a team like this,” ob- 
served the boy, as he placed the hitching strap under 
the seat and climbed into the vehicle. “ My! but I do 
love good horses ! ” 

“ I should think ’most any one would, Larry. Can 
you drive ? ” 

“ Oh, yes.” 

“ Then perhaps you wish to take the reins.” 

“ I wouldn’t like anything better, Mrs. Kennington.” 


90 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ You must be careful, Larry; the horses are high 
spirited, and you must keep them well in hand.” 

“ I’ll do that.” 

Larry took the reins from the lady’s hands, and pre- 
pared to start off. 

“ Hold on there ! ” shouted a voice from the street 
corner. “ What does this mean?” 

Larry looked around and so did the lady, and both 
saw Gregory Kennington running toward them. 

“ What are you doing in that wagon ? ” demanded 
Gregory roughly. “ Get out of there ! ” 

Of course his words were addressed to Larry, but 
before the boy could reply the mother of the young 
man spoke up : 

“ Why, Gregory, do not talk so ! Larry Curly is here 
by my invitation.” 

“ What, that thief ! ” roared Gregory savagely. 

“ I’m no thief! ” cried Larry hotly, stung by the ap- 
pellation. 

“ You are! How did he get out of jail, mother? ” 

“ I went his bail, Gregory.” 

“ Went his bail! Mother, are you clean crazy? ” 

“ Ho, Gregory, I am not crazy,” returned Mrs. Ken- 
nington calmly, although it cost her an effort. 

“ How much was the bail? ” 

“ A thousand dollars.” 

“ He’ll run away, and then you’ll be out the money,” 
went on the excited young man. 


LARRY MAKES ANOTHER FRIEND 


91 


“ I think not,” replied Mrs. Kennington briefly. 
“ However, this is my affair, Gregory, not yours. How 
you have returned, are you coming home to dinner? ” 

“ Hot yet. Besides, I don’t want to be seen in the 
company of a thief, even if you do.’’ 

And with this retort, Gregory strode off, an angry 
scowl covering his face. 


CHAPTER X 


MRS. KENNINGTON’s MANSION 

Larry had listened to the conclusion of the conver- 
sation between Mrs. Kennington and Gregory with in- 
terest. He was at first inclined to “ have it out ” with 
the unreasonable young man, but suddenly changed 
his mind and remained silent. 

“ I trust you will excuse this interruption, Larry,” 
said the lady, when Gregory had disappeared. “ My 
son is very rude.” 

“ Never mind, he’ll find out his mistake one of these 
days,” returned the boy significantly. 

“ I trust he will,” came from Mrs. Kennington with 
a sigh. “ His actions are the one grief of my life.” 

“ It’s the company he keeps that makes him so bad, 
ma’am. If he got in the right set he’d be good 
enough.” 

But although he spoke thus, Larry could not help 
but think of the conversation he had overheard at the 
deserted house and of the handkerchief clew. Cer- 
tainly, matters looked black for Gregory, and the time 
might come when the young man would have a hard 
time of it to clear himself. 


92 


MRS. KENNINGTON’s MANSION 


93 


“ But I won’t say anything until I am sure he is 
guilty/’ was Larry’s mental resolve, taken a second 
time. “ I won’t worry Mrs. Kennington needlessly 
after she has been so kind to me.” 

Soon Cleveland was left far behind and they were 
bowling along the country road which led to the Ken- 
nington mansion. It was a beautiful day, and for the 
time being Larry forgot his troubles as he sat bolt up- 
right and handled the reins like a trained driver. 

“ You drive beautifully, Larry,” remarked the lady. 
“ You ought to become a driver if you can get nothing 
better to do.” 

“ Shall I let them out a bit? ” questioned the boy, as 
he held the team in against their will. 

“ Yes, but watch them, for Tom is very high-spirited 
at times.” 

“ I’ll keep my eye on him, and on his mate, too.” 

Larry spoke to the team and off they shot at a spank- 
ing gait down the road which led to the Kennington 
mansion. 

In less than half an hour they reached the place, 
and then, leaving Mrs. Kennington at the piazza block, 
Larry drove around to the barn. Here he met an 
Irish hostler and gardener named Pat Murphy. 

“ Sure an’ where did yez come from? ” asked Mur- 
phy, gazing at Larry on the box in astonishment. 

“ From Cleveland direct,” laughed the boy. “ Why 
do you ask? ” 


94 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ Ain’t yez th’ b’y that was arristed for stalin’ ? ” 

“ Yes; but they let me out. I’m not guilty.” 

“ Did yez prove that? ” 

“ No; I am out on bail.” 

“ An’ who wint on the bond? ” 

“ Your mistress.” 

“Mrs. Kennington! ” ejaculated the Irishman, star- 
ing at Larry with mouth wide open in astonishment. 

“ Yes.” 

Murphy gave a long whistle. 

“ Sure an’ she must set a store by yez ! ” he mut- 
tered. “ Are yez one of Gregory’s friends, I don’t 
know? ” 

“ Ho, I am not,” returned Larry decidedly. 

“ Thin Oi don’t understand it,” and Murphy shook 
his head as he turned to lead the team away. 

Larry was about to return to the house when some- 
thing flashed over his mind and he followed Murphy 
to the stable door. 

“ Have you seen Gregory since yesterday? ” he 
asked. 

“ Oi have not.” 

“ Do you know anything about a friend of his called 
Pete?” 

“ Pate? Phat kind of a lookin’ man is he? ” 

As well as he could, Larry described the villainous 
countenance of Pete Lomax. Murphy listened closely 
until he had finished. 


MRS. KENNINGTOn’s MANSION 


95 


u Oi know that man ! ” cried Murphy. “ Do yez want 
to foind him? ” 

“ Has he been here? ” 

“ He don’t come to the house, but Oi have seen him 
down be the boat landin’ wid Gregory.” 

“ When did you see him last? ” 

“ Yisterday marnin’.” 

“ He was alone ? ” 

“ Yis. Oi guess he was lookin’ fer Gregory but 
couldn’t foind him.” 

“ You don’t know where he went? ” 

“ Ho. He said he would wroite to Gregory whin Oi 
axed him to lave wurrud fer th’ young man.” 

“ I see. Well, it’s all right.” 

Larry left the vicinity of the stable in deep thought. 
He had learned that Pete Lomax had been in the neigh- 
borhood the day before. Could it be possible that that 
rough-looking individual had helped Gregory to commit 
the robbery? 

“ Come right in,” said Mrs. Kennington, as soon as 
he approached the piazza. 

The two entered the house and a servant relieved 
Larry of his hat, and later on showed him to the bath 
room, where he took a brushing up and a wash. By the 
time he came down dinner was ready and a servant con- 
ducted him into the dining room, where Mrs. Kenning- 
ton was waiting for him. 

“ You may sit there, Larry,” she said, pointing 


96 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


out a chair to him. a We shall have it all to our- 
selves.” 

Larry was perfectly satisfied at this. The table was 
well filled, and he was not backward in taking what was 
offered him. 

During the meal Mrs. Kennington persuaded him to 
tell much concerning his wanderings, and was often 
compelled to smile at his odd manner of presenting his 
views of certain subjects. 

“ You are a bright boy, Larry,” she declared at last. 
“ It is a great wonder that you have not heard some- 
thing concerning your past — I mean before you were 
taken to the hospital.” 

“ I’ll run across news of that one of these days. Per- 
haps I’ll go back to New York when matters are cleared 
up here, and I’ve got a little money to spend.” 

“ Do you not remember anything concerning your 
neighbors in the vicinity of the basement in which you 
were discovered lying sick? ” 

“ Sometimes I think I do, and then again it is like a 
dream.” 

“ Your sickness has left a cloud on your memory,” 
she said softly. “ Perhaps some day a kind Providence 
will brush it away and you will be able to recall it all.” 

“ I hope what you say may prove true, Mrs. Ken- 
nington, for you don’t know how it feels to be all alone 
in the world.” 

“ Poor boy ! ” she murmured, as she reached over the 


MRS. KENNINGTOn’s MANSION 


97 


table and placed a kindly hand on his shoulder. “ But 
remember, Larry, I will be your friend. Only be hon- 
est and upright in all you do.” 

“ I will be, Mrs. Kennington. I never stole a thing, 
and though I don’t claim to be a saint, I never told a 
deliberate lie in my life.” 

“ I believe you.” 

“ I’m awfully hot-tempered, and wandering around 
has made me rough in some things, but I mean well.” 

“ You will come out successful in the end, do not 
fear.” Mrs. Kennington drew a long breath. “ Is it 
not strange that I should take such an interest in 
you? ” 

“ Yes, it is; but Pm very thankful that you do. If 
it hadn’t been for you I would still be in the Cleveland 
jail. By the way, do you and your son live all alone 
here? ” 

“Yes; but of course I have the gardener and the 
housekeeper and her help.” 

“ You haven’t any other sons or daughters?” 

“ Ko. I had another boy and two girls, but they all 
died when they were young. And Mr. Kennington 
died about the same time.” 

The lady drew her handkerchief and wiped the tears 
which were coursing down her cheeks. The scene made 
Larry feel very sober. 

“ I am sorry I — I spoke,” he faltered. 

“ Oh, you are not at fault, Larry,” she sighed. “ I 


98 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


could bear it if only Gregory would be a better boy. 
But you have seen how headstrong he is. I cannot 
make him mind me in a single thing. He makes me 
give him more spending money than he ought to have, 
and he threatens all sorts of dire things if I won’t 
give it to him.” 

“ He ought to have a regular master over him, or to 
rough it for awhile ; that would bring him to his senses, 
perhaps, Mrs. Kennington. He has it too easy here.” 

“ I suppose you are right, Larry, but it would grieve 
me to death if Gregory should become desperate and 
do something wrong.” 

Hardly had the meal been finished when the ser- 
vant entered bearing a letter for Mrs. Kennington. 

“ Excuse me, Larry, while I see what this message 
contains,” said she, and tore it open. 

“ Why, this is really too bad,” she cried. 

“ Ho bad news, I hope,” returned the boy. 

“ It is from a friend in Carwell, ten miles distant 
from here. She wishes me to call upon her this after- 
noon in reference to some work for a fair to be held 
there next week.” 

“ Can’t you go? ” 

“ I do not wish to drive you away, Larry.” 

“ Oh, that’s all right. I didn’t intend to intrude 
upon you much longer. But, say, will you drive 
there? ” 

“ I will get my man to drive.” 


MRS. KENNINGTOn’s MANSION 


99 


“ If it’s all the same, I would like to handle that 
team again.” 

“ You mean you would like to drive me to Carwell 
and back? ” 

“ Yes, ma’am.” 

“ Very well, then, you shall do it.” 


CHAPTEK XI 


A MOMENT OF PEEIL 

While Mrs. Kennington was preparing herself for 
the trip to be made, Larry left the house, sought out 
Murphy, who was behind the barn hoeing corn, and 
told the Irishman that the carriage and team were 
wanted. 

“ Sure an’ Oi’ll have them in a jiffy,” returned 
Murphy; “ but Oi’ll tell yez wan thing, me b’y, be 
careful o’ Tom.” 

“ Why?” 

“ He ain’t feelin’ well, an’ cuts up loike the very 
Ould Xick, so he does.” 

“ Then perhaps you had better not hook him up.” 

“ There’s no other horse to take his place. Jerry 
is at the blacksmith shop for shoeing, and Gregory 
rode off wid th’ black mare.” 

“ When he went away the other day? ” 

“ Yis.” 

“ And the mare has been gone all this while? ” 

“ Yis. But that’s nothing new. He sometimes 
leaves the animal at the livery stable in Cleveland. 
And, by the way, Oi see that feller out on the road 
while yez was to dinner.” 


100 


A MOMENT OF PERIL 


101 


“ Who? ” 

“ That feller yez call Pate.” 

“ You did?” cried Larry. “ Which way did he 
go?” 

“ Up that side road over there.” 

And Murphy indicated the direction with the handle 
of his hoe. 

“ Where does that lead to?” 

“ Carwell.” 

“Was he alone?” 

“ Yis. He was looking for Gregory, Oi guess; hut 
whin Oi shouted to him he got out av sight. Say, wot 
be yez afther wid him? ” 

“ Oh, I want to have a talk with him, that’s all,” 
replied Larry, and to avoid being questioned further 
he left Murphy to hitch up the team. 

“ Perhaps I’ll see this Lomax on the road,” thought 
Larry. “ If he has a bundle that looks suspicious I’ll 
stop him, by jinks, if I don’t! ” 

He found Mrs. Kennington ready for the drive, and 
in a few minutes Murphy brought the turn-out around 
to the door. Larry was in a hurry to be off, yet he con- 
cealed his impatience as best he could. But it did not 
take the lady long to enter the carriage and give final 
directions to the housekeeper, who had followed her to 
the block. 

“ I will be back by dark,” she said. “ And if Greg- 
ory comes, be sure and have dinner ready for him.” 


102 


LARKY THE WANDERER 


In another minute Larry had the lines in hand, and 
once again the elegant carriage turned out of the 
grounds. 

“ Do you know the way to Carwell? ” asked Mrs. 
Kennington. 

“ It is on that road, I believe,” replied Larry, point- 
ing out the road mentioned by Murphy. 

“ Yes, about ten miles from here.” 

“ Then I guess I can find it. There are numerous 
sign-boards around here, I notice.” 

“ I know the way and can direct you. By the way, 
what is the matter with Tom? ” 

“ Murphy said he was not feeling very well.” 

“ Then he ought to have been left in the stable.” 

“ Perhaps he will be better on the road than stand- 
ing still. Some horses are, you know.” 

“ That is true, but Tom is so high-spirited that I 
am rather afraid of him.” 

“ I’ll keep him well in hand.” 

They were soon on the road to Carwell, which at 
this point was rather rough. Larry kept his eyes open 
for Pete Lomax, and at last caught sight of a figure 
resembling the rough character he was after just 
ahead. He was almost upon the pedestrian when the 
man turned to see who was coming. Larry saw his 
face and made sure it was Lomax. Then the man 
jumped into the bushes and disappeared. 

When the carriage passed the spot, Larry looked in 


A MOMENT OF PERIL 103 

vain for the fellow, who, he had noted, had carried a 
bundle. 

“ Better luck next time,” thought the boy. 

It was not long before the unusually rough portion 
of the driveway was passed, and they emerged upon an 
exceedingly smooth stretch of road, lined on either 
side with bushes and trees. 

“ Be careful at the bend beyond! ” cried Mrs. Ken- 
nington suddenly; “ they are repairing the road 
there.” 

“ I’ll look out for it,” replied Larry. 

The spot alluded to was where several large rocks 
stuck out from the side of a steep hill. The road ran 
around the base of the largest of the rocks, and at this 
point was just wide enough to allow the passage of 
two vehicles. 

“ They are going to widen the roadway here,” ob- 
served Mrs. Kennington. “ When they have finished 
it will be a great improvement.” 

“ Yes, it’s very narrow,” replied Larry. “ If three 

wagons were Hullo! what’s up now? ” and Larry 

tried to check the team, which was now moving along 
at top speed. 

A man bearing a red flag had leaped into sight and 
was running toward them at full speed. 

“ There must be danger of some sort ! ” cried Mrs. 
Kennington. “ Stop the horses, Larry! — quick!” 

“ The blast ! — the blast ! ” yelled the man with the 


104 


LAKEY THE WANDERER 


red flag. “ Go back ! The blast will go off in thirty 
seconds! ” 

Larry’s face grew a trifle pale. Then he shut his 
teeth hard and spoke to the horses. 

But for some unknown reason, Tom, the high- 
spirited animal, would not come to a halt. He arose 
on his hind legs and then broke into a gallop, dragging 
his mate beside him. 

The man with the red flag had scarcely time to leap 
out of harm’s way when the team and the carriage 
dashed past him. Mrs. Kennington uttered a shriek, 
and arose to her feet as if to spring from the vehicle. 

“ Don’t jump!” cried Larry. “ You’ll be killed! 
I’ll try to turn them around. Come, Tom, whoa! 
whoa! ” 

“ Shall I take the reins ? ” 

“ Ho; but you might speak to him. He knows your 
voice.” 

“ Why don’t you go back? ” yelled the man in the 
road, waving his red flag furiously. “ We’ve got half 
a pound of dynamite loaded into that rock! ” 

“ Whoa, Tom! Whoa! — that’s a good Tom! ” called 
Mrs. Kennington, as soothingly as her agitated state of 
mind would permit. “ Whoa, Tom!” 

“ Here, take the reins, and I’ll get to his head! ” 
said Larry excitedly, as they came almost opposite to 
the rocks. “ We must turn around somehow! ” 

He passed over the lines and made a leap for the 


A MOMENT OF PERIL 


105 


wild animaPs back, landing squarely and placing his 
arms at once around Tom’s neck. 

For a brief instant Tom slackened his speed. With 
his arms still around the horse’s neck, Larry attempted 
to throw his feet to the ground. 

At that instant a terrible explosion sounded through 
the air. Bushes, trees and portions of rock flew in all 
directions, and the team and the carriage were hurled 
in the very midst of the wreckage. 


CHAPTER XII 


A LUCKY ESCAPE 

To the man with the danger flag it looked as if the 
two in the carriage would certainly be annihilated. 

Rocks, bushes, and limbs of trees filled the air, and 
in the midst of them the vehicle was raised up and 
dashed over on its side, one of the horses being in- 
stantly killed. 

As the carriage went over Larry caught Mrs. Ken- 
nington in his arms, and thus prevented her head from 
receiving a serious blow. The boy himself was flung, 
directly after this, on his back, and the heavy limb of 
a tree landed across his legs. 

The shock of the explosion nearly deafened Larry, 
and for the moment after he could not actually tell if 
he was dead or alive. When he collected his scattered 
senses he found the man with the red flag and two 
other workmen bending over him. 

“ He don’t look like he was dead,” said one of the 
trio. “ See, he’s opening his eyes.” 

“ I’m not dead by a good deal,” returned the boy, 
although somewhat feebly. “ But — but is the lady 
all right? ” 


106 


A LUCKY ESCAPE 


107 


“We can’t say yet. Here, Mike, take hold of this 
limb and get it off his legs.” 

The man took hold of the limb as he spoke, and both 
Mike and the second workman began to assist him. 
The limb was rather heavy and they had all they could 
do to roll it away. Fortunately, the stump of a branch 
on it had kept it from resting its full weight on Larry’s 
lower members. Had it been otherwise, both of the 
boy’s legs would undoubtedly have been broken. 

It was with difficulty that the boy arose slowly to 
his feet. 

“ Any bones broken? ” questioned the bearer of the 
flag. 

“ I guess not,” was the slow reply. “ But I can tell 
you I feel mighty queer.” 

“ I don’t wonder. Why didn’t you stop and turn 
around when you saw me with the red flag? ” 

“ The horse wouldn’t stop. Poor fellow ! he looks 
as if he was dead.” 

“ So he is, but the other is all right.” 

Larry turned his attention to Mrs. Kennington, who 
lay with her head resting upon the carriage cushion, 
which had been thrown out of the vehicle during the 
crash. The lady’s eyes were closed, and her face was 
as white as a sheet. 

“ Get some water,” he exclaimed to the others. “ I 
want to find out if she has only fainted or if it is worse.” 

He bent down and placed his ear over her breast. 


108 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


Her heart still beat, but, oh, so faintly. The water 
was soon brought, and Larry sprinkled some of it in 
the lady’s face. A faint color began to appear in her 
cheeks, and presently she gave a long sigh and opened 
her eyes. 

“ Where — where — Larry ! ” 

“ I’m here, Mrs. Kennington.” 

“ What has happened? ” 

“ The explosion — don’t you remember? ” 

“ The explosion? Oh, yes! Wasn’t it dreadful? 
Are you hurt ? ” 

“ Ho, ma’am; that is, not enough to count. But it 
was a close shave.” 

“ I am thankful you escaped,” murmured the lady 
fervently. 

“ How do you feel ? ” 

“ I — I think I am all right.” 

“ Ho bones broken? ” 

“ I think not, but the shock was fearful.” 

“ Yes, it was. It was bad enough to kill Tom.” 

“ Poor horse! He paid the penalty of his heedless- 
ness with his life. How is his mate ? ” 

“ All right, I fancy. There is one of the workmen 
with her now.” 

And Larry pointed to where the man was leading 
the animal away. 

“ We have had a narrow escape, indeed! ” said Mrs. 
Kennington with a shudder. 


A LUCKY ESCAPE 


109 


u That’s so, mum,” said the bearer of the flag. 
u But I hopes you don’t blame me. I ran with me flag 
as soon as we lit the fuse.” 

u It’s a pity you didn’t come out before,” returned 
Mrs. Kennington. “ Perhaps Larry could have 
stopped the horse if he had had a little more time to do 
it in. However, there is no use of speaking of that now. 
I— I ” 

Mrs. Kennington had attempted to rise, but now 
sank back on the cushion. 

“ You had better keep quiet for a while,” observed 
Larry. “ You are too weak to move just yet.” 

cc I suppose you are right, Larry. But what is best 
to do ? ” 

“ What do you say if I send one of the men back to 
the house on horseback with a message % I suppose you 
don’t care to go to Carwell now.” 

“Ho; I will give up going to Carwell to-day. You 
may send the man if you wish. Tell Murphy to borrow 
the Van Dyne carriage to bring me home in.” 

Larry called one of the workmen, and the fellow 
willingly set off on the errand. He said he knew Mrs. 
Kennington’s residence well, and was also acquainted 
with the man-of-all-work. While he was gone the other 
men removed the dead horse to the side of the road and 
also dragged the wrecked carriage out of the way. In 
the meantime Larry placed the cushion in a shady spot 
under a tree some distance from the scene of the ex- 


110 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


plosion, and assisted Mrs. Kennington to this more 
comfortable resting place. 

By the time this was done half a dozen men and boys 
had congregated, attracted by the loud blast. They 
were greatly interested in what had occurred and they 
spread the news like wildfire throughout the neighbor- 
hood. 

When Murphy arrived with the neighbor’s carriage 
he was followed by fully a dozen men, women, and chil- 
dren. Those who knew Mrs. Kennington were much 
pleased to learn that she had escaped such a great peril. 

“ Sure, an’ it’s the wondher yez didn’t both git 
kilt! ” exclaimed Murphy, with a broad smile on his 
honest face. “ ’Tis good luck yez desarve and have, 
Mrs. Kennington.” 

“ It was the kind hand of Providence,” returned the 
lady. 

Larry and the Irishman assisted her into the car- 
riage the latter had brought. 

“ Will you go with me, Larry? ” 

“ I was thinking that I might go on to Carwell,” re- 
plied the boy. “ I suppose you wish to send a message 
to your friend, do you not? ” 

“ I had forgotten about the trip. Yes, I would like 
to send a message.” 

u Then, I’ll take it. I might as well go to Carwell 
as any place. I might discover a clew there,” he 
added, with a faint smile. 


A LUCKY ESCAPE 


111 


u Perhaps, but it’s not likely. Carwell is an out-of- 
the-way place, and but for the car shops there it would 
not amount to anything. Do you feel strong enough to 
go on? Perhaps you had better return to the house 
and rest.” 

“ Oh, I am used to being shaken up ! ” laughed the 
boy. “ Fve had worse troubles than this during my 
life. Why I once went down two flights of stairs in a 
tenement house in New York, and never so much as 
sprained a joint.” 

“ Your cheek is bleeding.” 

“ It’s only a scratch. No; Pll go to Carwell, unless 
you want me to stay here with the wreck.” 

“ No, no; that will be all right.” 

Mrs. Kennington gave him the name and address of 
her friend, and asked him to explain matters to her, 
and this he readily promised to do. 

Five minutes later Larry was on the way. He met 
a farmer going in the same direction, and this indi- 
vidual readily allowed him to ride along on the empty 
hay rigging he was driving. 

The farmer stopped on the outskirts of Carwell, and 
Larry consequently entered the small town on foot. 
He found the place quite lively, but soon discovered 
that this was due to a strike which was in progress at 
the car shops. The streets were filled with sullen- 
looking men and half-grown boys, some of whom eyed 
Larry suspiciously as he passed them. 


112 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


Presently Larry found himself on a corner Mrs. 
Kennington had described to him. The house he was 
to call at was close at hand, but its precise location was 
at that instant a matter of conjecture. 

As Larry paused on the board walk and gazed 
around, two boys and a rough-looking man stepped up 
to him. 

“ Wot yer lookin’ fer?” demanded the larger of 
the boys, a fellow about Larry’s size. 

His insolent manner nettled Larry. 

“What business is that of yours?” he returned 
sharply. 

“ I’m on guard here ; see ? ” 

“ On guard — what for? ” 

“ To keep such chaps as you out.” 

“ Out of town? ” 

“ Dat’s it.” 

“ But I reckon I have a perfect right to come into 
town.” 

“ Dat’s where you are off, young feller. We’re on 
a strike, an’ we ain’t goin’ ter let no outsiders slip in ter 
take our places; see?” 


CHAPTER XIII 


AN UNEXPECTED MEETING 

Larry at once saw through the mystery of the other 
boy’s actions. The fellow was one of the strikers, and 
he took all strangers to be outsiders looking for chances 
to fill the vacated places in the car shops. 

“ So you suppose I came here looking for work? ” he 
said with an odd smile showing on his face. 

“ Yer did,” returned the shop boy quickly. 

“ You are quite mistaken; I came on private busi- 
ness.” 

“ That’s an old yarn,” put in the man. “A fellow 
told me that story not an hour ago, and then went to 
the office for a job.” 

“ Well, I don’t care what he did,” replied Larry. 
“ I don’t want to cut any one out of his situation.” 

“ Then the best thing you can do is to get out of 
town,” went on the man. 

“ DaPs it,” put in the smaller boy, and the big boy 
nodded approvingly. 

! “ I will not leave town until I’ve transacted by busi- 

I ness here,” returned Larry firmly. 

He would have said much more, but he saw that a 
113 


114 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


crowd was collecting, and that he would stand slim 
chances against a dozen boys and men, many of whom 
were armed with clubs. 

“ You’ll get out of town if we say so! ” put in an- 
other man with a large and very much inflamed nose. 
“We won’t have any scabs here.” 

“ I am not a scab,” said Larry, understanding by the 
term that the man meant one who did not belong to 
their labor organization. “ And I am not here looking 
for work.” 

“ You are! ” howled the big boy who had first ad- 
dressed him. “ Now leave, and be quick, too! ” 

As he spoke he caught Larry by the shoulder with 
his left hand and brandished a club with his right. 

Larry looked at him squarely, and his face grew pale 
and stern. 

“ Take that hand off my arm,” he said, in a con- 
strained voice. 

“ You’ll git out of town; see?” blustered the big 
boy. 

“ Take that hand off, I say!” repeated Larry 
sharply. 

His quiet but determined manner made the other 
drop his hold. It was well that he did so, for had he 
waited, Larry would have knocked him down, no mat- 
ter what the consequences. 

“ Now, we want an account of you, anyway,” said 
one of the men. 


AN UNEXPECTED MEETING 


115 


“ I came here with a message for Mrs. George 
Hotchkiss/’ said Larry. “ I believe she lives near 
here.” 

“ Yes; in that yellow house with green blinds, over 
by the brook,” put in another of the men. 

“ Are you going there right away? ” asked another. 

“ Yes.” 

“ Who sent you? ” 

“ Mrs. Kennington, the lady who lives down bv 
Eagle Lake.” 

The men and boys began to talk among themselves, 
and finally the leader of the crowd confronted Larry. 

“ Well, see here, you can go on to Mrs. Hotchkiss’ 
house and deliver your message. But if we find you 
trying to get to the car-shop office or tackling any of 
the bosses on the street, look out, that’s all.” 

And with this warning Larry was allowed to pass on. 
It did not take the boy long to reach the residence of 
Mrs. George Hotchkiss. He found the lady anxiously 
awaiting Mrs. Kennington’s arrival. She was much 
shocked to hear of the accident. 

“ I will drive over to Eagle Lake at once,” she said. 
“ It’s too bad! Will you come in and ride back with 
me?” 

“ Ho, thank you; I wish to remain over for a while.” 

“ You will find matters lively here. They are 
having a strike at the car shops, and there is no telling 
where the matter will end.” 


116 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ I’ve had a bit of warning already,” smiled Larry 
grimly. “ They ordered me out of town.” 

“ They order every stranger out, I believe. It is 
not right, but the men seem determined that no new- 
comers shall take their places.” 

“ What are they striking for? ” 

“ Against a reduction of wages. They are also 
bitter against Mr. Oldham, a foreman, who has intro- 
duced some new machinery which does away with a 
dozen men in the cabinet department.” 

Mrs. Hotchkiss offered Larry some refreshments in 
the shape of cake and fruit, and soon after the boy 
left. Once outside of the garden gate he paused, 
hardly knowing how to proceed. As the town was in 
such a state of excitement, would it be worth while to 
make a search for a possible clew to the robbery? 

“ They look at me as a suspicious character already,” 
he said to himself. 16 If they find me prowling around, 
they will feel sure I am here for no good, and they 
will follow me up and make things warm for me.” 

Nevertheless, Larry was not much frightened, and 
he did turn toward the center of the town, but took 
a different road from that pursued in coming to the 
Hotchkiss residence. 

As he was passing a side street, which also turned 
into town, he saw a man on horseback coming toward 
him. Larry stepped to one side, and an instant later 
the man passed him. The boy could not suppress a cry 


AN UNEXPECTED MEETING 


117 


of astonishment. The man was the same he had rowed 
across Eagle Lake on the morning following the rob- 
bery. 


“ Hi ! Stop ! Stop ! ” cried Larry, before he could 
think twice. Had he reflected he would not have 
uttered the command. The man slackened the speed 
of his horse and turned in his saddle. Larry ran up 
to his side. 

“ What do you want? ” began the man, and then, as 
he recognized Larry, his face changed color. 

“ I want to have a talk with you.” 

“ I haven’t time now.” 

“ You must take time. I want to know why you 
were in such a hurry to get across the lake that morn- 
ing.” 


“ I — I — who are you, anyway? ” 

“ I’m Larry Curly, the boy who rowed you across 
Eagle Lake on one morning ” 

“ Rowed me across Eagle Lake ! ” exclaimed the 
man, in apparent astonishment. “ You are mistaken, 
young man.” 

“ Mistaken? What do you mean?” 

“ You never rowed me across Eagle Lake.” 

“Why, certainly I did!” cried Larry indignantly. 
“ It was ” 

“ I haven’t any time to waste on you. I was never 
rowed across Eagle Lake in my life.” 

“ I can’t be mistaken,” said Larry, a puzzled look 


118 


LAKEY THE WANDERER 


creeping over his face for an instant. “ May I ask 
your name ? ” 

“ It is Luke Boughton. I never saw you before, my 
boy. You have made a mistake.” 

“ It is no mistake, sir,” was Larry’s reply. He had 
been studying the stranger’s face closely. “ Your 
make-up is a little different from what it was then, but 
you are the same man.” 

“Boy, you are crazy! ” cried Luke Boughton — for 
such really was the man’s name. “ I have no time to 
waste on you. Get out of my way.” 

“ Hot much,” responded Larry firmly, as he planted 
himself directly in front of the horse. “ I want to 
have a talk with you. I have a good mind to turn you 
over to the police.” 

“ The police! ” roared Luke Boughton. “ You must 
indeed be crazy. What have I done to be handed over 
to the police ? ” 

“ What have you done? ” burst out Larry. “ Don’t 
you know that on the night before the morning I 
rowed you across the lake Mrs. Hoxwell’s house was 
robbed? ” 

“ And do you intimate that I was the thief? ” yelled 
Luke Boughton, his face darkening. 

“ Yes, I do,” returned the boy bluntly. “ And I 
want you to come to the police station and clear your- 
self.” 

He had hardly uttered the words when Luke Bough- 


AN UNEXPECTED MEETING 


119 


ton bent forward. In his hand he held a stout riding 
whip, and with the butt of it he struck Larry a cruel 
blow on the head. 

Larry staggered to one side, and then sank down on 
the grassy bank. 

He heard Boughton utter something in a trium- 
phant undertone and then horse and rider passed on. 

As soon as he could the boy sprang to his feet 
again. There was a large lump on his forehead, left by 
the whip, but to this he paid no heed. 

He gazed down the road. Luke Boughton was just 
passing out of sight around a street corner in Carwell. 

“ I am on the right track,” said Larry to himself. 
“ Let me catch that scoundrel and I will have at least 
one of the men who robbed Mrs. Hoxwelbs mansion.” 


CHAPTEK XIV 


larry’s hard luck 

A man who was not far up the road had seen Bough- 
ton’s attack upon Larry, and now this individual came 
running up, asking what was the trouble. 

“ That man on the horse is, to the best of my belief, 
a thief,” explained the boy. “ I wanted him to go to 
the police station with me and stand examination, 
and ” 

“ He knocked you down, eh? ” 

“ Yes.” 

“ Well, that looks as if he was afraid to go. How’s 
your head? ” 

“ Feels rather thick, but that doesn’t matter. I 
must catch that man.” 

“ What makes you so anxious** about the matter? 
Did he steal the stuff from you?” 

“ Ho, but I was arrested for the theft, and I want 
to clear myself.” 

“ Are you out on bail? ” 

“ Yes.” 

“ Well, come on, perhaps I can help you catch the 
thief. Who did he rob? ” 


120 


larry’s hard luck 


121 


“Mrs. Amanda Hoxwell.” 

“ What? Well, see here, I’m sorry for you, but I’ll 
be blamed if I’ll do anything to help that woman. 
She’s too mean altogether to have even my sympathy. 
You’ll have to go it alone.” 

And without another word the man turned on his 
heel and walked away. 

“ Well, I can’t say that I blame him much,” thought 
Larry, as he hurried off in the direction Luke Bough- 
ton had pursued. “ I suppose she has made him mad 
clear to the toes, just the same as she has me.” 

It was not long before Larry stood on the corner, 
around which Boughton had disappeared. He gave a 
long and searching look down the street and on both 
sides. Horse and rider were not in sight. 

“ Missed him ! ” groaned Larry. “ And now he’ll 
get out of Carwell just as fast as he can.” 

“See here, didn’t we tell you to quit this place?” 
put in a voice at Larry’s elbow, and he found himself 
confronted by the big boy who had tackled him on his 
first appearance inlhe place. 

“Oh, give me a rest!” returned the boy impa- 
tiently. “ I’ve got nothing to do with your shop or 
your strike, and I’m not looking for a job here. I’m 
after a man who was on horseback and rode through 
as fast as he could. Hid you notice where he 
went ? ” 

“ Of course. He turned down the Spurnham road,” 


122 


LAKEY THE WANDERER 


“ Which is that? ” 

“ Do you see that big oak over there? ” 

“ Yes.” 

“ Well, the Spurnham road is behind that, to the 
left.” 

“ How far is it to Spurnham? ” 

“ A mile and a half.” 

“ Thanks.” 

Larry was off like a shot, leaving the big boy stand- 
ing in the road, his mouth wide open in wonder. 

Larry was a good runner, and the oak tree men- 
tioned was soon reached. A winding road led past it, 
and along this he sped, keeping a keen eye ahead for 
some sign of the man he was after. 

Bushes and trees grew on either side of this new 
highway, and it was not long before Larry came in 
sight of a tumbled-down shanty, where an old colored 
woman was sitting in the open doorway, smoking a 
clay pipe. 

“ Good-afternoon, aunty,” said Larry. “ Did you 
see anything of a man on horseback along here ? ” 

“ Yes, sah, jess went by,” was the reply. 

“ Riding fast? ” 

“ To? able fast, sah.” 

“ All right. Thanks,” and once more Larry was on 
the run. 

Fully half a mile was covered and still he had not 
come in sight of Luke Boughton. Then another shanty 


larry’s hard luck 


123 


appeared in view, in front of which three half-grown 
white children were playing. 

“ Did any of yon see a man on a horse go by? ” was 
Larry’s immediate question, without hardly stopping 
for a reply. 

All the children shook their heads. 

“ You are sure? ” 

“ Nobody went by for an hour,” said the oldest of 
the children, a bright-eyed girl. 

“ You are sure of that? ” 

“ Oh, yes, sir, I’ve been here by the fence all the 
while.” 

Larry stood still now and a woman came to the 
door. 

“ What does he want of you, Jennie? ” she asked of 
the girl. 

“ Wants to know if a man went by on a horse.” 

“ No; nobody has gone by since Rogers passed with 
his milk wagon a couple of hours ago.” 

“ That’s queer. The colored woman told me he 
passed her house.” 

“ Then he must have turned off before he got here.” 

Larry’s face fell a bit. 

“ Could he do that?” 

“ Oh, yes, there are several roads running down to 
the river just a way back.” 

“ How far is the river from the road? ” 

“ Oh, not far.” 


124 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ Quarter of a mile ? ” 

“ Not as far as that.” 

Larry thanked the woman and gave a smile to the 
children and began to retrace his steps. 

It was not long before he came to a narrow road, 
somewhat screened by overhanging bushes. It led in 
the direction of the river, which he could hear pouring 
over the rocks from beyond, and in the soft dirt Larry 
could distinguish fresh hoof -prints. 

“ He must have taken this path,” thought the boy. 
“ Now, the question is, what brought him to such an 
out-of-the-way spot, and will it be safe for me to follow 
into the brush? ” 

The boy hesitated only an instant. Then he pulled 
aside the overhanging bushes and proceeded along the 
somewhat darkened pathway. 

The roaring of the river, which at this point tumbled 
over innumerable jagged rocks, was now plainly to be 
heard, and it was not long before he caught an oc- 
casional gleam of sparkling water among the breaks in 
the brush ahead. 

Larry proceeded with caution, and when a slight 
cracking sound ahead reached his ears he came to a halt 
instantly. 

“ I wonder what that was? ” he thought. 

“ Whoa, there, Frank! ” he heard, in Luke Bough- 
ton’s voice. “ Whoa, old boy, you are all right here, 
but I’ll tie you up and make sure.” 


LARKy’s HARD LUCK 


125 


Larry instantly dropped out of sight behind a clump 
of bushes. He heard Boughton continue to speak to 
the horse and a moment later walk away toward the 
river. 

Making sure that he was not being observed, Larry 
followed the man almost to the river bank. Here stood 
an old sawmill now dilapidated by age. All the doors 
to the place were wide open, and the windows were 
broken out. The mill-race, also, had all but gone to 
pieces. 

“ This is lonely enough for almost anything,” said 
Larry to himself, with something like a shiver. “ What 
in the wide world brought that man here? I declare, 
the mystery is growing deeper.” 

Larry waited behind a rock until Luke Boughton 
had passed inside the old mill. Through the open doors 
he saw the man ascend the stairs leading to an upper 
floor. 

Should he follow? Larry well knew the risk he was 
running. His recent encounter on the road had con- 
vinced him that Luke Boughton was no mild-tempered 
man. 

But once more the boy’s natural daring urged him 
forward, and like a cat he prowled on until the wide- 
open doors were reached. Then suddenly he passed in- 
side. 

Hardly had he crossed the threshold when a man’s 
footsteps sounded outside. Larry’s heart seemed to 


126 


LAEEY THE WANDEEEE 


jump into his throat, but he did not lose his presence 
of mind. 

He cast a hurried glance around for some place 
where he might hide. The old mill had been well 
ransacked when it had been abandoned, but on the floor, 
in one corner, still rested a pile of half-rotted boards 
and beams. 

Like a flash Larry crossed the floor and dodged behind 
the pile. He made not the slightest sound, and, as the 
eyes of the newcomer were not yet used to the gloom, 
he was not observed. 

“ Hullo, Boughton ! ” cried the man at the doorway. 

“ Hullo ! ” came from the upper floor. “ Did you 
just get here ? ” 

“ Yes. Where are you, upstairs? ” 

u Yes. Come on up.” 

“ All right, just as soon as Fve tied my horse.” 

Larry listened to this conversation with breathless 
interest. The voice of the newcomer sounded familiar, 
and now he was able to place the man. It was the fel- 
low Gregory Kennington had had the trouble with in 
the old cottage on Eagle Lake — Pete Lomax! 


CHAPTER XV 


LARRY DEFENDS HIMSELF 

Larry was greatly surprised to learn that the new- 
comer was Pete Lomax, and for the moment he came 
near to exposing himself in his endeavor to catch sight 
of the man, and thus make certain that he was not mis- 
taken. 

“ Those two men are in league with each other,” he 
thought. “ Can it be possible that Gregory Kenning- 
ton is also in with both of them? ” 

Larry heard Pete Lomax leave the old mill and walk 
some distance away through the bushes, evidently to 
where he had left his horse standing. In a few minutes 
the man was back again. 

He ascended the somewhat broken stairs with cau- 
tion, each step creaking beneath his heavy weight. The 
boy breathed freer when he had disappeared. 

What was to be done next? This was the absorbing 
thought which filled Larry’s mind. Would it be pru- 
dent to crawl up the stairs and attempt to listen to 
what the two might have to say? 

He heard the murmur of voices, now in rather a high 
127 


128 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


key and then again pitched almost in a whisper, and the 
tramp of feet as either Boughton or Lomax paced ner- 
vously about. 

At last, overcome by his desire to learn what was 
being said, Larry left his hiding place and as cautiously 
as a cat climbed the dilapidated stairs. 

When his head was on a level with the top he paused 
and gazed swiftly about. 

Through an open doorway he beheld Boughton and 
Lomax in a small room overlooking the river. Bough- 
ton was walking around, while his companion was in 
his favorite attitude on a box, smoking his ever-present 
short pipe. 

“ I tell you, Pete, you must be mistaken,” insisted 
Boughton. “ Say, do you know if it hadn’t been for 
my nerve I would have been knocked clean in a 
heap ! ” 

“ Oh, you’ve got nerve enough,” laughed Lomax. 
“ But to meet him — and way out here — it’s too 
much.” 

And the man on the box shook his head. 

“ Nevertheless, it’s so, Pete.” 

“ What is he doing here? ” 

u He has a boat on Eagle Lake, and Pve heard that 
he catches fish for a living.” 

“ Is that so? ” burst out Lomax, jumping to his feet. 
“ Why — why ” 

“ What? Have you met him? ” 


LAKRY DEFENDS HIMSELF 


129 


u I believe I have. But I wouldn’t know him.” 

“ Well, that’s not to be wondered at.” 

“ I reckon that’s so, too, but still ” Lomax broke 

off short. “ What is to do now? ” 

“ Oh, we’ll let matters rest until this other affair 
blows over.” 

“ But you can’t do that.” 

“ Why not? ” 

“ The boy is under arrest for the robbery.” 

“ What? ” Boughton stared at his companion for a 
second in amazement, and then burst into a fit of laugh- 
ing. “ Well, if this isn’t rich! ” 

Lomax joined in the laugh and refilled his pipe. 

“ So you see it mixes matters,” he observed. 

“ But the boy is out, Pete.” 

“ Then he has secured bail. You see, they think he 
and the man he lives with, Howard Bruin, committed 
the robbery. Bruin has disappeared, and they don’t 
know where to find him.” 

“And that makes it look black for him, eh?” 
chuckled Luke Boughton. 

“ Of course. Besides, Mrs. Noxwell is certain he is 
guilty.” 

“ So much the better for us. By the way, what of 
young Kennington? ” 

“ I tried to see him,” said Lomax slowly. “ But I 
couldn’t make it.” 

“ Wasn’t he at home? ” 


130 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ If he was he wouldn’t show himself. Do you know, 
I’m getting a little afraid of him. I reckon Mrs. Ken- 
nington’s influence is beginning to tell on him.” 

“ Bosh and rot! ” grumbled Luke Boughton. “ We’ll 
get him over that mighty quick.” 

“ He won’t do anything I want him to, I can tell you 
that. If I had my way — Jumping Junebugs! What’s 
that?” 

Pete Lomax gave a prolonged howl and jumped up 
from his seat. 

“Wasps!” cried Boughton. “By Jove! there’s a 
whole swarm of them ! W e must get out of here ! Get 
away! shoo! ” 

“ The smoking brought ’em out! ” muttered Lomax, 
as he struck out right and left. “ Get away! shoo! Oh, 
my nose! Where’s the ladder? ” 

Both men made a blind rush for the open doorway, 
the swarm of wasps following. 

Before Larry could retreat down the ladder f the, two 
men were on top of him. At first in their excitement 
they did not notice who he was, but when all landed on 
the lower floor in a heap, Lomax gasped out : 

“ What! Luke, here’s the boy! ” 

“ So it is! Say, where did you — I see, you followed 
me!” 

Larry tried to get away. He was on his, back, 
knocked over by the weight of Lomax’s body, but ; he 
quickly scrambled up. 


LAKEY DEFENDS HIMSELF 


131 


Yet ere he had taken two steps, Bonghton had him 
by the arm. 

“You’ve been spying on us!” he said hoarsely. 
“ Don’t attempt to deny it ! ” 

“ There is no call to do so,” replied Larry, as calmly 
as he could. 

The wasps had not followed the men below, so they 
were free to turn their entire attention to Larry. 

“Did you follow me on horseback from Carwell?” 
went on Boughton. 

“ No.” 

“ Then you must be a good runner.” 

“ I am.” 

“ And what have you heard? ” put in Lomax. 

“ I’ve heard enough to know that you ” Larry 

checked himself. 

“ What? ” demanded Boughton. 

“ Never mind now.” 

“ I demand to know how much you heard of our con- 
versation.” 

“ And I refuse to answer, so there ! ” retorted Larry 
boldly. “ You can’t drive me.” 

“ We’ll see about that, my boy,” said Boughton sig- 
nificantly. 

Then he turned to Lomax. 

“ Pete, see if you can’t shut those outer doors.” 

“ What do you intend to do? ” cried Larry. “ Make 
me a prisoner? ” 


132 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ That’s about it,” grimly returned Luke Boughton. 
u We’ll see if we can’t teach you to be civil.” 

“ You will gain nothing by such a course.” 

“ We’ll see about that. How about the doors, 
Pete?” 

“ I reckon I can fix ’em,” muttered the man with the 
short pipe. “ They ain’t been shut in so long they work 
rather hard. There! ” 

The doors came together with a bang, and Lomax 
shot the big wooden bolt into place. 

“ How he won’t be able to slip out all in a second,” 
said Lomax. “ You can let up your grip on him.” 

a If you try to run, it will be the worse for you! ” 
warned Boughton, as he released his hold on Larry’s 
arm. “ I am not a man to be trifled with, as you will 
learn before long. You made the worst move of your 
life when you followed me here.” 

To this Larry made no reply. He was trying to de- 
vise the best plan of procedure under the sudden 
change of circumstances. It was plain to see that the 
men in whose power he was were lawless fellows, and 
there was no telling how far they would proceed if he 
made a move to thwart their evil designs. 

“ Do you want to bind him up? ” questioned Lomax. 
“ Or are you going to take him along when you go? ” 

“ We’ll see about that later,” responded his com- 
panion slowly. “ I allow as this is quite a surprise to 
us, but we’ll get over it, never fear.” 


LARRY DEFENDS HIMSELF 


133 


“ Do you mean to tell me yon intend to make me a 
prisoner? ” asked Larry, a peculiar look coming into his 
eyes, a look, however, which the person he addressed 
failed to catch. 

“ That’s about the size of it.” 

“ Maybe you are mistaken,” went on the hoy slowly. 

u What do you mean? ” cried Lomax and Boughton 
in a breath, growing suspicious at once. 

“ I don’t think it can be done, that’s all.” 

“ Do you mean you will try to escape ? ” asked 
Boughton, in an ugly manner. 

“ Never mind what I mean. If you wish to know 
more just look out in the opening in front of the mill.” 

Not suspecting any trick, Lomax and Boughton 
rushed to the door, threw it partly open and peered 
out. They saw nothing unusual. 

“ What are you giving us? ” began Boughton, turn- 
ing back. “ Do you — Hullo! stop, you rascal! ” 

Larry had retreated to the rear of the mill and was 
now climbing up on a shelf under a small window over- 
looking the water. Boughton made a leap for him, but 
was too late. 

Crash! The boy’s body passed through the some- 
what broken sash frame, and a moment later disap- 
peared with a splash into the swiftly flowing river. 


CHAPTER XVI 


INTO THE EIVEK 

“By Jove! He’s a goner! ” shouted Boughton, as he 
drew himself up to the small window and gazed 
out. 

“ Can you see him? ” questioned Pete Lomax. 

“ Ho, he’s gone under. Say, that was a daring jump, 
eh?” 

“ Oh, he’s a plucky boy and no mistake. Come on 
outside and see if we can’t stop him.” 

Lomax flung open the big doors and dashed out with 
Boughton at his heels. They passed around one corner 
of the old mill, and a moment later stood on a project- 
ing rock a few yards below. 

In the meantime Larry had struck the water head 
first, and gone under for a short distance. 

Fortunately the stream at this point was quite deep, 
so the impetus of the dive did not bring him up against 
any obstruction with violence. By the time his hands 
touched bottom, the force of the movement was spent, 
and he at once began to rise to the surface. 

While he was doing this he bethought himself to put 
as much distance as possible between himself and the 
134 


INTO THE RIVER 


135 


mill, and he accordingly struck out with all the strength 
at his command for the opposite shore. 

When his head did finally appear above the surface 
he was all of forty feet from the mill. The current, 
however, had carried him directly in front of the rock 
upon which Lomax and Boughton were standing, on 
the watch for him. 

“ There he is ! ” cried Boughton, as Larry’s head met 
his view. “ Come back here, boy! ” 

“ Yes, come back here, or it will be the worse for 
you! ” added Pete Lomax. 

To these commands Larry paid no attention. His 
eyes were fastened on the opposite shore, and he 
was wondering if he could reach it before the cur- 
rent should carry him on to the dangerous rapids 
below. 

“ Are you coming back ? ” demanded Boughton, after 
a second of silence. 

Again Larry vouchsafed no reply, and the man 
began to grow ugly. 

“ If you don’t turn around I’ll shoot you! ” 

“ Ho, don’t do anything of that kind! ” whispered 
Pete Lomax, in evident alarm. 

“ It’s only a bluff to scare him,” returned his com- 
panion. “ We must make him come back. If he gets 
away he may make us no end of trouble.” 

“ Oh, all right, then.” 

Lomax raised his voice to a shout. 


136 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ You don’t want to be shot, do you? Come back, 
then, do you hear?” 

Larry did hear, but instead of obeying or replying, 
he very promptly dove out of sight. 

When the boy came up, the baffled men saw that he 
had gained another ten yards, and was now well out 
toward mid-stream. 

“ This will never do ! ” cried Boughton. “ He’ll get 
away as sure as fate.” 

“ He will unless he is caught in the rapids,” returned 
Lomax. “ My, how the water roars ! ” 

“ Oh, it’s dangerous crossing here, there’s no doubt 
of that. But we must go after him, anyway.” 

“ Fire a shot to scare him.” 

This was done, and Larry promptly disappeared 
again. This time, on coming up, he was past the middle 
of the stream, and they saw that in some manner he 
had gotten rid of his coat and vest. As a matter of fact, 
the boy had also kicked olf his shoes, realizing that it 
was to be a hard struggle to get away. A rock was 
close at hand, and this partly sheltered him from view. 

“ Ain’t there a boat around here?” demanded 
Boughton anxiously. 

“ There is an old boat up the stream, but it may not 
be good enough to use.” 

“ Run for it! ” 

Lomax started in the direction where the craft he 
had mentioned was tied up among the bushes. It was 


INTO THE RIVER 


137 


a well worn, flat-bottom affair and looked rather shaky. 
On the seats rested a pair of worm-eaten oars. 

“ Shove her out ! She’s good enough for our use ! ” 
cried Boughton. “ Quick, now, for the young rascal is 
getting ready to leave the rock.” 

The flat-bottom boat was shoved from the mud bank 
upon which it rested and both Boughton and Lomax 
jumped in. Lomax took the oars, while his companion 
seized an old tin can and began to bail out the water 
which came in through several cracks. 

“ She won’t leak after the cracks swell shut,” said 
Boughton. “ Pull, Pete, or we will be too late ! ” 

Lomax bent to the oars with a will, and soon the old 
boat was making rapid progress toward the rock in 
the stream upon which Larry had sought temporary 
refuge. 

The boy saw them coming and his heart sank for the 
moment. He was almost too exhausted to attempt to 
gain the shore. 

Suddenly an idea came into his mind and he resolved 
to act on it without delay. On the top of the big rock 
rested several smaller ones, and one of these was loose. 

Picking up the rock he poised it over his head and 
sang out: 

“ Stop where you are ! If you come any closer I’ll 
throw this at you ! ” 

Boughton heard his cry, and looked forward. Then 
he gave a coarse laugh. 


138 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“You can’t bluff us that way, boy,” he sang out. 
“ Put down that rock. If you’ll give in we’ll treat you 
easy-like.” 

“ I want you to keep off! ” 

The boat was now within five yards of Larry’s foot- 
hold. A few more strokes and the bow of the boat 
would be at his feet. 

Taking careful aim, the boy launched the stone forth 
into the air. 

Boughton saw it coming and yelled to Lomax to 
dodge, a thing the fellow did so hastily that one of his 
oars slipped from his grasp and floated away. 

The stone fell with a crash into the bottom of the 
boat. It struck a plank that was half rotted with age, 
and stove a hole clean through it. The water began to 
pour in by the bucketful, and almost before they real- 
ized it, both of the men were up to their ankles in the 
element. 

“ Confound the boy ! ” roared Boughton, as he sprang 
up, followed by Lomax. “ The boat is sinking. W e’ll 
go to the bottom, sure! ” 

“ We’ll have to swim for it,” muttered Lomax sul- 
lenly. “ Let’s strike out for the rock.” 

He made a leap forward, and Boughton quickly fol- 
lowed. They landed within a couple of yards of the 
resting place, and a few strokes brought them to it. 

In the meantime Larry was not idle. As soon as he 
saw that the boat was foundering, and that his enemies 


INTO THE RIVER 


139 


were after him, he sprang from the rock and began to 
swim for the shore. The brief rest had somewhat re- 
freshed him, and he made good progress. 

“ He has gone ! ” he heard Lomax exclaim, on climb- 
ing on the rock the boy had left. “ He’s going to make 
the shore, sure.” 

“ After him ! ” yelled Bough ton, and both dove from 
the rock in the direction Larry had taken. 

The current on this side of the stream was much 
stronger than on the other, and Larry was floated all 
of a hundred feet toward the rapids before he was able 
to grasp an overhanging tree and pull himself to land. 

He gazed backward for one brief instant, saw that 
the two men were in close pursuit, and then disappeared 
in the bushes. 

“ Gone ! ” burst from Luke Boughton’s lips. “ Too 
bad! He may cause us a lot of trouble.” 

“ He won’t if we face it out,” returned Lomax. 
“ What is the word of a young tramp against a gentle- 
man like you? ” 

“ That’s all right — how about you? ” snarled Bough- 
ton, as he ran up the bank. 

“ I’ll disappear, as usual,” laughed Lomax. “ I ain’t 
ready for more work yet, anyway.” 

“Pooh!” snorted Boughton; but for the while he 
said no more. 

They heard Larry crashing through the bushes 
ahead, and then all became quiet. 


140 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ We must get out of here and get back to the mill,” 
said Lomax, after a moment of thought. “ He may get 
some sort of help and come down on us.” 

“ We had better leave the mill.” 

“ Of course, but you must remember the bag of 
stuff I brought there that night ” 

a By Jove, that’s so! We must get that out of the 
way by all means. How are we to get across the 
river? ” 

“ I know where there is a boat on this side. Come 
on, every minute is precious.” 

The two passed along the river bank for probably 
two hundred feet. Here they came to a little inlet, 
where, locked to a stake, rested a fine round-bottom 
craft, long and narrow. 

a Jump in!” whispered Lomax, wrenching off the 
staple which held the lock. “ There may be somebody 
near here, and we don’t want to be seen.” 

“ But the oars ” 

“ Here is a bit of board, and I’ll paddle with that. 
How we are off.” 

A moment later the round-bottom boat was making 
fair headway in the direction of the old mill. 


CHAPTER XVII 


HOT WORDS 

Larry passed into the brush for a distance of about 
a hundred feet. Then he crouched and waited, 
and it was not long before he heard Lomax and Bough- 
ton pass up the river bank. 

He paused until he was sure they had abandoned the 
chase, and then, with extreme caution, he retraced his 
steps until through a thin mass of leaves he was able to 
watch the river front and the water beyond. 

“ Where could they have gone ? ” was the question 
which arose in his mind, but it had hardly been formu- 
lated when the round-bottom boat came into view, with 
Lomax paddling it with a bit of board. 

Larry could hardly repress a cry of surprise. It was 
plain that the two had become alarmed, and were on 
their way back to the rendezvous. 

“ They realize that it won’t do to come out here,” 
said the boy to himself. “ I must get help and have 
them held. Most likely they have something at the 
mill they wish to get away with. How, what’s to be 
done? ” 

This was a question easier to ask than to answer. 

141 


142 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


Larry was in a dense woods which led he knew not 
where. The villages of Carwell and Spurnham were 
on the other side of the river, and there was no telling 
how far it was to any dwelling place. 

“ I don’t feel like swimming that river again,” he 
thought. “My! but my arms ache yet from those 
strokes. I’ll walk up the bank until I strike some- 
thing.” 

By the time he had reached this conclusion he saw 
that the boat was more than three-quarters of the way 
across. Lomax handled the paddle as if it were no new 
thing. Boughton sat in the bow, gazing alternately 
ahead and behind. 

Making sure that he was not seen by his late pur- 
suers, Larry was making his way along the slippery and 
somewhat irregular bank, when presently the bark of 
a dog reached his ears. It was an angry bark, and 
though it sounded some distance off, it made the boy 
jump. 

“ If a dog comes after me I’ll have to shin up a 
tree,” he soliloquized. “ I’ve had enough of them 
when on the tramp. I wonder if he has nosed me 
out? ” 

This appeared to be the case, but, although he waited 
for fully three minutes, the barks came no nearer, but 
sounded exactly from the same spot as before. 

“ By jinks ! I’ll bet he’s tied up ! ” suddenly cried 
Larry to himself. “ And if that is so, there must be a 


HOT WORDS 


143 


house in the neighborhood. What a fool I’ve been to 
waste precious time waiting. here! ” 

He hesitated no longer, but went tearing through the 
brush as fast as the thickets would permit. 

Five minutes later he emerged into a small clearing, 
inclosed by a stout wire fence. Beyond was a neat 
cottage, and a barn and several outhouses. There was 
also a big dog kennel, in front of which stood a rather 
savage-looking dog, barking vigorously. 

A man was at work near the barn, and making sure 
that the dog was indeed chained fast, Larry crawled 
between the wires of the fence and made his way to- 
ward the man. 

The farmer — for such Isaac Grise was — looked at 
Larry in surprise. 

“ What do you want? ” he asked, as he rested on the 
handle of the hoe he had been using. 

“ Say, that dog can’t get loose, can he ? ” 

“ Hot unless I unchain him.” 

“ All right, then. How, I would like to get help.” 

“ Ain’t got nothin’ fer ye,” returned the farmer 
shortly. “ Maybe I’d better unchain Towser, after 
all.” 

“Ho! no! — you misunderstand me! ” cried the boy 
quickly. “ I want help to capture a couple of robbers.” 

At these words Isaac Grise’s eyes opened to their 
fullest extent. 

“ A couple of robbers? ” he gasped. 


t 


144 LARRY THE WANDERER 

“ That’s what I said, sir — the men who robbed Mrs. 
Hoxwell’s mansion.” 

“ I heard tell o’ that robbery,” was the farmer’s slow 
reply. “ So you want to catch the fellers that did it? 
Do you know where they be ? ” 

“ Yes; across the river at the old mill.” 

“ Dutch Henry’s mill? ” 

“ I don’t know whose mill it is. It’s in that direc- 
tion.” And Larry pointed with his finger. 

“ That’s Dutch Henry’s place. You see, Dutch 
Henry sot up that mill about twenty-five year ago. He 
thought he would make a big thing of it, but when the 
freshet ” 

“ Excuse me,” interrupted Larry impatiently. “ But 
those men are trying to get away, and there is conse- 
quently not a moment to lose.” 

“ I see, I see ! Two robbers ! Have they got what 
they stole with ’em? ” 

“ That I can’t say, but it’s likely.” 

“ Good enough. And I reckon there’s a big reward 
for ’em. Ain’t there? ” 

“ There ought to be,” went on Larry, still more im- 
patiently. “ Will you come along and try to capture 
them? ” 

“ Certainly! Certainly! Two, did you say? ” 

“ Yes.” 

“ Then we had better take Sam Helson along. Sam’s 
got a farm tudder side of this clearing. He’s a power- 


HOT WORDS 145 

ful feller, Sam is, and can give the biggest man in the 
county the grape-vine twist and floor him.” 

“ All right; we’ll take Mr. Nelson along by all 
means. How can we get across the river ? ” 

“ Sam’s got a boat. That’s partly why I spoke of 
him. I never kept a boat, ’cose I hain’t got no use for 
it. When Bill — that’s my brother — was alive he kept 
a boat, but it dried out and fell to pieces, so I — but 
you’re in a hurry, an’ quite naterally so. Come on.” 

Isaac Grise threw down his hoe and led the way 
across the field, and Larry followed close behind. 

A dense bit of brush was passed, and they came to 
another clearing, fully twice as large as the one just 
left. Nelson, the neighbor, was found at home, and 
after he was introduced Larry quickly made him ac- 
quainted with such particulars as he thought necessary. 

“ I’ll go,” said Sam Nelson quietly. “ Wouldn’t 
want any better fun. Perhaps I had better take my 
shot-gun, eh ? ” 

“ Yes,” said Larry, thinking of the pistol-shot on the 
river, but sincerely trusting that there would be no 
bloodshed. 

“ See here ! I don’t want no shooting,” said Isaac 
Grise. “ I’m a peaceable citizen, I am, and I ” 

“ That’s all right, Ike,” laughed Nelson. “ Come 
on. As the boy says, there’s no time to waste in talk.” 

He and Larry led the way, Isaac Grise following 
somewhat slowly. 


146 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


There was a well-defined path from the Nelson farm 
to the river, so it took but a few minutes to reach the 
water’s edge. 

Hardly had the river appeared in sight than Sam 
Nelson uttered an exclamation of anger. 

“ The scoundrels ! ” 

“ What’s the matter — have you discovered any- 
thing? ” asked Larry anxiously. 

“ Didn’t you say they took a boat from over here? ” 

“ Yes.” 

“ A long, narrow affair, painted white and green? ” 

“ Yes.” 

“ It was my boat. See, they broke off the lock from 
this post. But I don’t see how they got along without 
these oars,” went on Nelson, indicating the blades he 
carried on his shoulder. 

“ They paddled the boat with a bit of board,” cried 
Larry. “ That Lomax seemed to be quite skillful 
at it.” 

“ Well, just wait until I get in his wool! ” exclaimed 
Sam Nelson wrathfully. “ This proves he’s a thief 
beyond a doubt. I’ll break every bone in his body.” 

Larry could not help gazing on the tall and muscular 
fellow, and he had no doubt that if the farmer and 
Lomax came into a personal encounter, Nelson would 
be able to keep his word. 

“ What’s to do now? ” asked Isaac Grise nervously. 
“ We can’t cross on nothin’,” and he appeared to be re* 


HOT WORDS 


147 


lieved that no mode of transportation was at hand. 
Evidently his sudden enthusiasm to catch the robbers 
had cooled to some extent. 

“ We’ll find another boat,” said Sam Nelson de- 
terminedly. 

“ That’s the talk!” cried Larry. “ We’ll get over 
by hook or crook.” 

“ Eight you are; come on!” and off Sam Nelson 
started, Larry by his side and Isaac Grise following, 
more slowly than ever. 


CHAPTER XVIII 


A TOTAL DISAPPEARANCE 

Larry could easily see that the big farmer, Sam Nel- 
son, was much agitated over the loss of his beautiful 
round-bottom boat and that he meant to make it go 
hard with Lomax and Boughton should he be able to 
catch the unworthy pair. 

Nelson led the way along the shore of the roaring 
river until the party of three arrived at a small brook, 
which flowed from the mountains of the northwest. 
Then he passed up the course of this tiny stream for 
probably fifty feet. 

“ Here we are,” he said, pointing to a small rowboat 
which lay in the mud of the sloping bank. “ I thought 
J ohn Gregg’s craft would be here. It’s lucky we’ve got 
them oars, for there ain’t none here. Catch hold, both 
of you.” 

Larry caught hold as asked, and Isaac Grise did the 
same. In a moment more the boat was afloat, and then 
the three piled in. 

“ I’ll take the oars,” said Nelson. “ I reckon I can 
row better than you, Ike, or the boy. Steady now.” 

Sam Nelson gave a few sweeping strokes, which 
148 


A TOTAL DISAPPEARANCE 


149 


proved that he was familiar with the handling of a 
boat. The craft shot into the main stream, and the 
journey to the old mill was begun. 

It was no easy matter to keep the boat from turning 
down towards the rapids, but Sam kelson’s stroke was 
strong when he once settled to work, and he managed 
to steer a fairly straight course. 

When they landed on a soft spot just below the mill 
Larry calculated that half an hour must have elapsed 
since he had seen Lomax and Boughton crossing, and 
had gone for assistance. 

“ They have had plenty of time in which to clear 
out,” he thought somewhat bitterly. “ It is more than 
likely that we won’t catch so much as a glimpse of 
them.” 

“ There’s my boat,” observed Sam Nelson, as he 
pointed still farther down the river. “ That’s safe, 
thank goodness. Now come on and point out the ras- 
. cals.” 

Larry sprang to the front and started for the old 
mill on a run. Nelson followed swiftly, leaving Isaac 
Grise to bring up the rear on a walk. 

The lower doors of the old structure were wide open, 
and a peep within told that that portion, at least, of the 
place was deserted. Then Larry ran up the stairs and 
looked around. 

Only a few angry wasps, the remnant of those that 
had been disturbed, buzzed around. Otherwise, all wa,s 


150 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


silent, and a look through the various apartments un- 
der the roof showed that Lomax and Boughton had in- 
deed sought safety in flight. 

“ See anybody? ” called up Sam Nelson. 

“ No; they’re gone,” returned Larry. “ Better look 
in the bushes ” 

Larry stopped short as a small bit of paper fluttered 
past him. It had been lying on a box, and the breeze 
from the open window had caught it up and deposited it 
close at hand. 

He picked it up, and as it was growing somewhat 
dark, he stepped to the window with it. 

The piece of paper proved to be the part of an en- 
velope, and it was addressed to Gregory Kennington ! 

The envelope had no postmark, showing that it had 
been delivered privately. 

Larry opened the portion and found a small corner of 
a letter within. It bore these words: 

— “ lots of work — don’t fail us — silver — some pa- 
pers Pete.” 

For the time Larry became so interested in this bit 
of paper that he forgot about the two men below, and 
was only brought to the realization of what was on hand 
by Sam Nelson calling up to him: 

“ Come down ! Ike heard them out in the bushes ! ” 

Jamming the bit of paper in his pocket, Larry leaped 


A TOTAL DISAPPEARANCE 


151 


down the stairs three steps at a time. Nelson had al- 
ready gone outside, and was making his way across the 
clearing in front of the mill. 

“ Ike heard a horse crashing through the brush!” 
shouted Nelson. “ It must be one or the other of ’em.” 

“Yes; they were on horseback,” replied Larry. 
“ Come, I will show you where Boughton left his 
horse.” 

The place was soon reached. As Larry stepped up 
to the tree, which showed signs of the horse’s croppings, 
a crashing was heard not a hundred feet away in the 
direction of the Spurnham road. 

As we know, the boy was a swift runner, and now 
he forged ahead at a speed which soon took him out of 
sight of the two men behind. 

He still heard the hoofs of the horse, as the animal 
went plunging through the undergrowth of the ne- 
glected path. 

At last the main road was reached at the very point 
where Larry had left it to take his way to the mill. 

It was now growing dark rapidly, the sun having 
set while the party of three were crossing the river. 

In the twilight Larry looked up and down the Spurn- 
ham road eagerly. He was doomed to bitter disap- 
pointment. Neither of the robbers was in sight. 

He listened intently, and around a bend, some dis- 
tance away, he fancied he detected the steady hoof 
strokes of two horses. 


162 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ What do you intend to do now? ” questioned the 
big farmer. 

“ That’s the road to Spurnham, isn’t it? ” 

“ Yes.” 

“ Then I’ll follow them on foot. It isn’t likely that 
they will go very far during the night.” 

“ In that case we’ll go back,” put in Isaac Grise, who 
had just come up. “ I don’t want to go from home any 
farther, seeing how I left the old woman alone.” 

“ I’ll have to get back, too,” said Nelson. “ The 
night’s supply of milk is got to go to the depot before 
eight o’clock. Sorry I can’t help you any more.” 

“ I’m very thankful to you that you did so much,” 
returned Larry. 

“ Won’t you catch cold in your shirt sleeves and 
barefooted? ” 

“ Oh, I’m used to roughing it, and I’m tough. But 
I wouldn’t mind having a coat and hat for appearance’s 
sake.” 

“ I’ll lend you mine,” said Grise, who was a small- 
built man. “ You can bring them back on your re- 
turn.” 

“ Thank you. I won’t forget you — nor you,” added 
Larry, turning to Sam Nelson. 

The transfer of the coat and hat was soon made, and 
then Larry, after a few more words with the farmers, 
who said they would take a look around the old mill on 
the way back, started on his way to Spurnham. 


A TOTAL DISAPPEARANCE 


153 


The road Larry traveled was a lonely one, and long 
before Spurnham was reached the darkness of the night 
had settled down. 

The boy found the village a bustling one, even more 
so than Carwell during the strike. There were half a 
dozen stores and several taverns, and all were well 
patronized. 

A crowd of villagers were attracted by his odd ap- 
pearance, wet trousers, bare feet, and long coat, and 
soon a couple of fellows set up a jeer. 

“ Look at the new arrival, boys ! ” 

“ He must have his clothes made in Paris.” 

“ Bare feet must be coming into fashion again.” 

Larry took this raillery in good part, and when the 
boys had finished he asked, somewhat quietly: 

“ Will you tell me the way to the police station? ” 

“What, want to get yourself locked up?” laughed 
the older of the boys. 

“Ho, I want to report a robbery, and a couple of 
robbers.” 

“ Stole your dttds, did they? ” 

“ Worse than that. Come, quit fooling, and tell me 
the way to the station-house.” 

Seeing that they could not chaff Larry, and that he 
was in earnest in his request, the boys stopped their fun 
and directed him to the police station, but a few blocks 
away. 

Ten minutes later Larry was telling his story to the 


154 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


officer in charge. He gave all the details, only sup- 
pressing the name of Gregory Kennington, doing this 
for the sake of the young man’s mother. He was still 
determined not to expose Gregory until he had positive 
proof of the young man’s guilt. 

After Larry’s story was told, two policemen were 
sent out to search for Lomax and Boughton. Larry 
went with them, and the search was continued until 
midnight. 

It proved fruitless. Nothing was seen nor heard of 
the two robbers, and it looked doubtful if they had 
come to Spurnham at all. 

When Larry returned to the station-house he was 
utterly worn out. The officer in charge allowed him to 
go to sleep on a sofa in a back room, and here the boy 
slept soundly until morning. 

Larry’s first resolve on waking was to return to the 
outskirts of Cleveland and ascertain if anything had 
been heard of Howard Bruin. The boy was getting 
worried over his benefactor’s strange disappearance. 
Besides, if the artist had appeared, he wished to tell 
all he knew concerning the guilty parties. 

At a cheap country store the boy purchased a coat, 
a hat, and a serviceable pair of shoes out of his scant 
savings. Then he made an arrangement with a 
farmer to return the borrowed coat and hat to Isaac 
Grise. 

There was a straight road from Spurnham to Cleve- 


A TOTAL DISAPPEARANCE 


155 


land, with a side road which led to Howard Bruin’s 
house. This road passed the mansion of Mrs. Kenning- 
ton, and Larry resolved to stop on the way and learn 
how the kind lady was feeling after her narrow escape 
from death. 

It was well on towards noon when Larry arrived in 
the vicinity of the place. 

He saw Gregory Kennington standing at the wide- 
open gates. The young man was dressed in a bicycle 
suit, and near at hand rested a wheel of the latest pat- 
tern. 

Gregory caught sight of Larry a second later, and 
his face took on a dark look. 

“What do you want?” he demanded, as the boy 
came up to the gateway. 

“ I wish to find out how your mother is.” 

“ She’s doing well,” was the short answer. 

“ She got over her shock all right? ” 

“Didn’t I say she was doing well? Would she 
he if she hadn’t gotten over the shock?” sneered 
Gregory. 

“You needn’t get so crusty about it!” exclaimed 
Larry. 

“ Well, then, don’t ask me any questions.” 

“ I wouldn’t if you hadn’t asked the first one. I’ll 
go in and talk to the housekeeper.” 

“ Well, if that isn’t cool! You’ll do nothing of the 
kind. We don’t want you around here.” 


156 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ Who are we ? ” 

“ Well, I’m one.” 

“ But isn’t your mother up? ” 

“ Never mind if she is.” 

“ I am sure she’ll want to see me.” 

“ Rats ! ” exclaimed the young man, as he began to 
puff away at an ever-present cigarette. “ For a young 
tramp I think you are getting altogether too large for 
your clothing.” 

“ Excuse me, but I imagine I about fit my clothing,” 
said Larry dryly. “ And I am not a tramp, nor do I 
associate with tramps, as some do who claim a higher 
standing in society.” 

Larry uttered the last words with peculiar emphasis 
and meaning, and he noted that Gregory Kennington’s 
face changed color perceptibly. 

“ See here, what do you mean? ” blustered the young 
man. 

“ I mean just what I say, Gregory Kennington.” 

“ Do you insinuate that I associate with tramps? ” 

“ Tramps, and worse than tramps, if you want the 
whole truth.” 

Gregory staggered back against one of the gates and 
stared at Larry, as if he had not heard aright. 

“ You — you don’t know what you are saying, boy,” 
he faltered. 

“ I am sorry to say that I know exactly what I’m 
saying.” 


A TOTAL DISAPPEARANCE 


157 


“ Sorry? ” was the puzzled query. 

“Yes; sorry for your mother’s sake. I’ll tell you 
why,” went on Larry, speaking rapidly. “ Outside of 
Mr. Bruin your mother is the only friend I have in the 
world, and I would almost rather cut off my right hand 
than to bring to light something which I know will 
break her heart. Now, you have not treated me right, 
but I would be willing to let that pass, for I fancy that 
you are not bad at heart, but have only got into the 
wrong set. But I can’t do anything, that would be 
against the law — and I’ve got to clear myself, and — 
and ” 

“ Stop ! Stop ! ” exclaimed Gregory, with something 
like terror depicted on his face. He looked back 
toward the house. “ Come with me, and tell me what 
you mean.’* 

He caught Larry by the arm and almost forced the 
boy to walk down the road a bit with him. 

“Now out with it! Tell me what you have — what 
you think you know,” he went on. 

A strange feeling came into Larry’s heart, as he 
faced Gregory Kennington, a feeling the boy could not 
explain. It was only in after years that he found its 
solution. 

“ Look here, Gregory, tell me truthfully, did you — 
did you have anything to do with it? ” 

He could not bring himself to utter what was in his 
heart in plainer words. 


158 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


A hasty reply arose on the young man’s lips. Then, 
as his eyes met those of the boy before him, he an- 
swered slowly: 

“ !No, I did not, Larry.” 


CHAPTER XIX 


GREGORY MAKES A CONFESSION 

Evidently it was Larry’s reference to Mrs. Kenning- 
ton which had brought Gregory down from his high- 
spirited manner. It was plain to see that in spite of 
his willfulness the young man thought a great deal of 
his mother, and that Larry had touched the right chord 
when he said that he would do much to shield the lady 
from pain. 

As for the boy himself, he gave a long sigh of relief 
after Gregory’s simple declaration. Evidently the very 
simplicity of the words had impressed him with their 
truth. 

“ You don’t know how glad I am to hear you say 
that! ” said Larry warmly. “ I trust you will be able 
to prove your words. 

“ Don’t you believe me ? ” questioned Gregory 
quickly. 

“ I do, yes; but that’s not all.” 

“Look here; tell me what you have discovered, 
Larry — tell me all! ” burst out the young man plead- 
ingly. 

“ Well, it isn’t much, but it is very important — to 
159 


160 


LARRV THE WANDERER 


me. In the first place, about that handkerchief that 
was picked up at Mrs. Hoxwell’s. That belonged to 
Mr. Howard Bruin, and it appears to me that it was 
the one he loaned you to wipe jour face with the day 
we were all on the lake.” 

“ The day you knocked me overboard; yes, I know. 
Go on.” 

“ Then I’ve discovered that you and a chap called 
Pete Lomax are rather thick, and that you also know 
a man named Luke Boughton.” 

“ What of that? ” 

“ Luke Boughton and Pete Lomax were two of the 
men who robbed Mrs. Noxwell’s mansion.” 

At this Gregory’s face grew as pale as death. 

“ How did you discover that ? ” he gasped. 

“ In rather a roundabout way. But that is not all. 
At a place called Dutch Henry’s Mill, to which I 
tracked Boughton and Lomax, I found part of a letter 
which had been directed to you.” 

“ A letter? Let me see it!” 

Larry brought forth the portion he had found of the 
epistle and allowed Gregory to examine it. 

“ I see it all!” groaned the young man, after a deep 
silence of fully a minute. “ It certainly looks black for 
me, and — and maybe I can’t clear myself.” 

“ Can you explain about the handkerchief? ” 

u I can only say this much; I had the handkerchief 
when I got to shore, and I meant to return it to Howard 


GREGORY MAKES A CONFESSION 


161 


Bruin. After that I thought no more of it until I 
heard of the handkerchief clew at Mrs. Hoxwell’s home 
the day after the robb.ery.” 

“ Then it must have been taken from you by Pete 
Lomax.” 

“ Very likely, and if he did take it, he did it for a 
most foul purpose,” replied Gregory Kennington bit- 
terly. 

“ What do you mean? ” 

“ He took the handkerchief, thinking it was mine, 
and that he would thus cast suspicion on me.” 

“ He is down on you, then? ” 

“ It is worse than that. To a certain extent, he has 

me in his pow But we won’t speak of that. He 

wants to bring me down to his level.” 

“ How about Luke Boughton? ” 

“ I know very little of that man, excepting that he 
pretends he was once a friend of my father. He and 
Lomax are hand and glove in all things.” 

“ Did you know that Boughton and Lomax com- 
mitted the robbery? ” 

“ Ho, I did not. I fancied they might have done it, 
but Mrs. Hoxwell says the papers taken were of value 
only to Howard Bruin, so that put me on the fence.” 

“ I know Lomax was trying to get money out of 
you,” went on Larry after a pause. “ I overheard your 
talk in the old cottage by the lane the afternoon of the 
storm.” 


162 


LAKEY THE WANDERER 


“ Were you there? ” 

“ Yes, and I overheard him say that he had a right 
to get all he could out of you.” 

“ He is a human leech, that man ! ” hurst out Greg- 
ory. “ He has a hold on me, and he intends to squeeze 
me all he can in consequence.” 

“Can’t you break that hold?” asked Larry, with a 
ring of genuine sympathy in his voice. How that 
Gregory’s manner had taken a different turn he found 
himself quite drawn to the young man. 

“ I wish I could. Oh, how I wish I could ! ” was the 
positive reply. “ Do you know it is this which 
makes me fairly wild at times. I would be different — 
at least I would try to be different — if I could get clear 
of Lomax and his persecutions.” 

“ Then, it’s as bad as that? ” 

“ Yes, it is. He possesses a certain secret, and if 
he exposed me, I would — well, I don’t know what would 
become of me, that’s the truth.” 

“ He could ruin your life? ” 

“ It would amount to that.” 

“ And there is no way to get clear of him? ” 

“Ho way, excepting to keep on paying him money. 
I’ve given him hundreds of dollars — all I could get 
from mother, with the exception of what I spent on 
sports — but he wants more and more.” 

At this last statement Gregory hung his head, and 
something like a tear glistened in each of his eyes. Im- 


GREGORY MAKES A CONFESSION 


163 


pulsively Larry put out his hand and grasped that of 
the young man. 

“ See, here, let us be friends ! ” he exclaimed earn- 
estly. “ Let us forget the past and start new. I am 
only a poor boy, and just now somewhat down on my 
luck, but I ? ll help you all I can. We will work together 
against Lomax and Boughton, and I will bring them to 
justice without you appearing in the case. Lomax 
won’t be able to harm you when he is behind the bars, 
will he? ” 

“ He can harm me any time he takes it into his head 
to open his mouth. That’s the worst of it. Of course 
he would be more revengeful if he thought I had done 
anything to bring him to jail.” 

“ I see.” 

“ Tell me all you know,” went on Gregory curi- 
ously. 

The two sat down on a large, flat rock, and Larry 
told his story from beginning to end, even going back 
to the happenings in his life previous to his arrival in 
the vicinity of Cleveland. 

Gregory Kennington drank in every word with deep 
interest. At times his face would light up with real 
admiration for the plucky wanderer, without a home, 
who had so bravely faced the world and made a place 
for himself. 

“ You’re a real hero, Larry,” he said warmly, at 
the conclusion. “ If I had known you the day I met you 


164 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


on the lake as I do now, I never would have done what 
I did.” 

“ Well, that’s past now. Shall we be friends? ” 

“ With pleasure.” 

“ Then shake.” 

And they shook hands. 

“ ISTo wonder mother went your bail,” went on Greg- 
ory. “ She knew you for your true worth.” 

“ And she is better? ” 

u Yes, she is quite well.” 

“ Was Mrs. Hotchkiss here? ” 

“ Yes, and mother is going to Carwell to-day to 
look up those fair matters. Come on up to the 
house.” 

“ Is your mother alone now? ” 

“ Yes, and she’ll be glad to see you, no matter what 
I said before. Come on, and I’ll set myself right before 
her so far as you are concerned.” 

The two arose from the rock and turned toward the 
Kennington mansion. 

As they did so, the clatter of a horse’s hoofs sounded 
on the hard road, and a moment later a horseman ap- 
peared in sight. 

Larry paused to see who it was, and then gave a 
cry, which was followed by an exclamation from 
Gregory. 

The newcomer was Howard Bruin. 

“ Mr. Bruin! ” cried Larry. “ Stop! Stop! ” 


GREGORY MAKES A CONFESSION 


165 


“ What, Larry! is that you? ” sang out the artist, as 
he brought his horse to a halt. 

“ Yes, sir. Where in the world have you been? ” 

“ I’ve been to Chicago since I was home. Didn’t 
Maggie get my message ? ” 

“ I rather guess not.” 

“ I sent one saying I would not be home until to-day 
or to-morrow. It’s too bad it miscarried. I presume 
she was worried, and you, too, Larry.” 

“ Then you don’t know what has happened since 
you’ve been away? ” 

“ Anything of importance ? ” 

“ Rather important,” returned the boy, coming back 
to his old dryness of speech. “ Mrs. Hoxwell’s house 
has been robbed, and she declares that you and I are 
the culprits. I was arrested, and am now out on bail, 
and the police are searching everywhere for you.” 

Howard Bruin stared at Larry in silence for a mo- 
ment, then he emitted a long, low whistle. 


CHAPTER XX 


HOWARD BRUIN^ DILEMMA 

For several minutes after he had heard what the 
trouble was, Howard Bruin’s face was a study. At 
first he looked worried, then a half-amused smile 
crossed his features, and this finally gave way to a 
stern look, that had little of pleasantness in it. 

“ So this is Mrs. Xoxwell’s revenge on me for beat- 
ing her in that last lawsuit,” he said bitterly. “ And 
she feels that I will win this second suit, too. She 
would have me branded as a robber, and let folks 
imagine that she cannot go to law successfully now be- 
cause her papers have been stolen.” 

“ That’s the way it looks,” returned Larry. “ I must 
say that I never saw a woman that seemed so disagree- 
able in her ways.” 

“ She was always that way,” put in Gregory Ken- 
nington. “ Because we are neighbors, mother tries to 
get along with her, but it is hard work, I can tell you.” 

“ Well, I will quickly explode Mrs. Xoxwell’s 
theory,” cried Howard Bruin. “ But, say ” 

The artist stopped short, and looked first at Larry 
and then at Gregory Kennington. 

166 


HOWARD BRUIN’S DILEMMA 


167 


“ Oh, we have made up,” said Larry, interpreting the 
look. “ I will tell you about it later,” he said, in a 
lower tone, as the young man turned away for an in- 
stant. “ But what are you going to do now? ” 

“ Go home first, and then go to Cleveland and have 
a talk with Justice Kaum.” 

“ You won’t go to see Mrs. Noxwell? ” 

“ Not at first; but I may go and give her a piece of 
my mind later. She knows better than to accuse me of 
this robbery. But didn’t you say that you were out on 
bail? ” 

“ I am.” 

“ Who went your bail? ” 

“ Mrs. Kennington.” 

“ Ah! she is a kind woman — always was.” 

“ Excuse me,” put in Gregory, rather awkwardly. 
u But I want to say, Mr. Bruin, that I am sorry we had 

some trouble in the past, and ” 

“ Let it pass,” cut in the artist. “ You got the worst 
of it, so I ought to be satisfied.” 

“ But I want to be friends. I am mixed up in this 
matter in a way, and I want to help you and Larry 
bring the guilty parties to justice.” 

“ Oh, I see. All right, Gregory, we’ll forget the 
past. But how under the sun are you mixed up in 
this ? ” 

Gregory looked at Larry, and the boy looked at him. 
One word brought on another, and soon the artist was 


168 


LAKEY THE WANDERER 


in possession of all the particulars just as they have 
been chronicled here. 

“You are right; Boughton and Lomax are un- 
doubtedly the guilty parties, and the only ones,” said 
Howard Bruin. “ The thing is to prove it and recover 
the stolen stuff. I think it will be a comparatively easy 
matter.” 

“ I had an idea we would not tell the police all we 
know, but work the case up privately,” said Larry. “ It 
seems to me the police around here do an awful lot 
of blundering.” 

“ They are only country boys, that’s all. In a place 
like this it does not pay the authorities to engage skilled 
men, for there is too little to do. A couple of Hew 
York or Chicago detectives would have had them long 
ago.” 

“ You’re right,” said Gregory Kennington. 

The three now observed two men coming along the 
road on foot, from the direction of Cleveland. Larry 
recognized one of them as Officer Angus. 

“ Here are the officers now,” he exclaimed. 

“ That’s so,” said Howard Bruin. “ Hullo, Angus! ” 
he called out. 

The officer addressed looked up, and stared at the 
artist in astonishment. Then both he and his com- 
panion came rushing forward. 

“ It’s him!” cried Angus, 
pop!” 


“ It’s him, sure 


HOWARD BRUIN’S DILEMMA 


169 


“ That’s so, it’s him,” returned the other, who was 
a constable named Furlough. 

“ Where did you come from? ” demanded Officer 
Angus abruptly. 

“ From Chicago,” returned the artist, with a faint 
smile on his face. “ I understand you are looking for 
me? ” 

“We have been searching everywhere for you; eh, 
Furlough? ” 

“Well, you didn’t search in Chicago, or you would 
have found me at the Palmer House,” laughed Howard 
Bruin. 

“ Don’t you know you are wanted for rob- 
bery? ” 

“ So I understand, Angus ; but seriously now, do you 
think I would commit such a foul deed? ” 

“ Well — I — that is ” stammered Officer Angus. 

“ Tell the truth.” 

“Ho, I don’t — no gent like you would. But Mrs. 
Hoxwell claims ” 

“ I know all about that, and all I can say is, so much 
the worse for Mrs. Hoxwell. How, what’s to be 
done?” 

“ Well — I — I — will have to take you to Cleveland, 
now I’ve found you.” 

“ To Justice Baum? ” 

“ Yes.” 

“I do not object. I was going as it is. We will set 


170 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


off at once, and stop at my house for a moment on the 
way. I wish to do that to quiet Maggie, who, no 
doubt, has been much worried over my disappearance. 
Come on.” 

A few minutes later, the artist, Larry, and the two 
officers of the law were on the way. 

The housekeeper, Maggie, was almost overcome with 
joy upon Howard Bruin’s reappearance. 

“ I told ’em you would come back! ” she cried. “ The 
villains, to call a gentleman like you a robber! I told 
’em if they couldn’t do no better, they had better re- 
sign, judge and all! ” 

“ We will soon have this matter settled now, Mag- 
gie,” replied the artist. 

In a short while, the men and Larry were all seated 
in Howard Bruin’s wagon and on the way to Cleveland. 
The morning was a bright and fresh one, and had there 
not been so much on Larry’s mind he would have en- 
joyed the ride thoroughly. As it was, however, he was 
busy thinking of Boughton and Lomax, and specu- 
lating on what had become of the rascals. 

There was a stir of surprise when Howard Bruin 
and Larry stopped in front of the police court and 
alighted, followed by Angus and Furlough. Many 
men gathered around, and various were the comments 
passed on the artist’s appearance. 

“ There is Bruin at last.” 

“ I wonder if Angus or Furlough caught him? ” 


HOWARD BRUIN’S DILEMMA 


171 


“ He don’t look bad. Running away must have 
agreed with him.” 

“ They take me for a first-class criminal,” whispered 
the artist to Larry, as they elbowed their way into the 
court room, where the morning police session had just 
reached a conclusion. 

Justice Raum was in his place behind the judge’s 
railing and desk. He knew Howard Bruin and stared 
for an instant upon his appearance. 

“ Here is the ” began Officer Angus, but the 

artist cut him short. 

“ I have come to give myself up, and to ask for bail,” 
said he. “ I trust you will arrange the matter as 
speedily as possible.” 

“ Who caught you? ” 

“ Ho one; I never knew the police were looking for 
me until this morning.” 

“ Humph! most extraordinary! Well, I will hear 
your story, Mr. Bruin.” 

Standing before the desk, Howard Bruin told all that 
he had to say. The missing message to Maggie had evi- 
dently caused all the trouble. 

“ And you plead not guilty? ” 

“ I most certainly do, your honor.” 

u Are you willing to stand trial at once? ” 

Howard Bruin hesitated, and he and Larry held a 
whispered consultation. 

“ If you please, I would prefer to have my trial take 


172 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


place at the same time as this young man’s. I will 
furnish bail to any amount,” was the artist’s final an- 
swer. 

“ Very well. Bail will he fixed at one thousand dol- 
lars. Where is your bondsman ? ” 

“ I will go out with Officer Angus and obtain one 
inside of a quarter of an hour.” 

This was satisfactory, and the officer and Howard 
left, leaving Larry to face the eager crowd of ques- 
tioners who had gathered around. 

Inside of the specified time the artist returned. He 
had had no difficulty in getting a business friend to go 
on his bond. The papers were fixed up, and five minutes 
after he and Larry were once more in the street. 

“ How where?” asked Larry, as they seated them- 
selves in the wagon, and Howard Bruin took up the 
reins. 

“ To Dutch Henry’s mill for clews,” was the artist’s 
reply. 


CHAPTER XXI 


back; to the old mill 

u You see, from what you said of the meeting there 
between Pete Lomax and Luke Boughton, I fancy they 
may have some of the stolen stuff at the old mill,” said 
Howard Bruin. “ It would be a first rate place to 
which to take it.” 

“ I think they took it there, too,” said Larry. “ But 
it’s more. than likely they took it away again.” 

“ I think not, Larry.” 

“ "Why not ? They must have known I would come 
back.” 

“ Just so. And for that reason they would be too 
afraid of being seen and followed to have undertaken 
to cart off the stolen silverware, which must have been 
heavy.” 

“ There is something in that, sir. Certainly, there 
won’t be any harm in going.” 

As the two passed the grounds surrounding Mrs. 
Kennington’s residence, Larry thought of the visit he 
had intended to pay the kind lady. He told the artist 
of it. 

“ Well, run in and see her,” said Howard Bruin. 

173 


174 


LARKY THE WANDERER 


“ In the meanwhile, I will give the horse a drink. The 
animal needs it.” 

So, while the artist drove to a convenient spot along 
the lake, Larry ran up the garden path and rang the 
front door bell. 

“ Oh, Larry, is that you? ” exclaimed a voice through 
one of the low French windows, and the next instant 
Mrs. Kennington stepped out upon the piazza. “ How 
are you feeling,” she went on as she took his hand. 

“ First rate, ma’am. How are you? ” 

“ I have quite recovered, thank you. But the shock 
was a severe one.” 

“ Yes, it was, or it wouldn’t have killed poor 
Tom.” 

“ I was greatly pleased a while ago to hear something 
to your credit,” went on Mrs. Kennington, in a lower 
tone. “ Gregory tells me you and he have made up.” 

“ Yes, ma’am.” 

“ It is best. Gregory is a hot-headed boy usually, 
and I am glad to learn that he intends to take a differ- 
ent course. What great influence have you exercised 
over him, Larry? ” 

And Mrs. Kennington fairly beamed upon the home- 
less boy as she spoke. 

“ I’m sure I don’t know,” returned Larry, blushing, 
although he could not tell why. “ Something seems to 
draw Gregory and me together, although for the life 
of me I couldn’t tell you what it is. Can you? ” 


BACK TO THE OLD MILL 


175 


<( Me? Ho, I cannot, but it must be the same thing 
that makes me take an interest in jour behalf. I never 
before took such an interest in one who was a stranger 
but a short time before. And, by the way, Gregory 
tells me Mr. Bruin is back.” 

“ Yes, and out on bail, like myself.” 

“ I am glad to hear it; where is he now? ” 

“Waiting for me outside. We are going to try to 
run the real robbers down.” 

“ I trust you succeed. Give him my best wishes, 
please.” 

Soon Larry and the artist were once more on the way. 
As they rode along the winding road to Carwell, the 
boy related what had been said at the meeting, and also 
what he knew concerning Gregory’s secret. 

“ Mrs. Kennington is a fine woman, and her son 
would make a good fellow if he would take the right 
turn,” observed Howard Bruin. “ I can’t understand 
where he gets his wild manner from at all. It isn’t 
from his father.” 

“ So you said before.” 

“ Ho, his father was a fine man — every one who knew 
him spoke of that. My father knew him even better 
than I did. My father used to say that he was, in his 
younger years, quite jolly, but he lost all that when 
some sort of family affliction came upon him.” 

“ You mean the loss of his other children — of Greg- 
ory’s brothers and sisters.” 


176 


LARKY THE WANDERER 


“ Yes; you see they died under rather peculiar cir- 
cumstances. The family was in the East during the 
time, and Captain Kennington, as he was called, left the 
children in care of a nurse for a week or longer, while 
he and his wife attended the funeral of a relative in 
Virginia. When they came back they found that the 
nurse and all of the children had been taken sick, and 
been put out of the hotel at which they were stopping. 
The nurse had secured quarters in a back street, and 
one of the children was dead, and another was missing 
— the nurse was too sick to tell where it had gone, or 
who had taken it.” 

“ Mr. and Mrs. Kennington must have felt pretty 
bad,” put in Larry thoughtfully. 

“ They did. There was one child laid away in an 
unknown grave, another missing, and two sick.” 

“ What did they do? ” 

“ The captain, I believe, got a trained nurse and a 
good doctor for the sick ones, and then started to find 
the missing one, which was Gregory ” 

“ Oh, so they found him! ” 

“ Yes, they finally found him with an Italian family 
in Brooklyn. The Italians were going to hold him for 
a reward, so it is said.” 

“ They must have been former Italian brigands.” 

u That’s so. The Italians fled, and Gregory was 
brought back home. He was only a wee baby at the 
time. Less than a week after the other two children 


BACK TO THE OLD MILL 177 

died, and that left the almost heart-broken mother and 
father with but one child out of four.” 

“ Too bad! ” murmured Larry in a choked voice. 
“ No wonder Mrs. Kennington’s face is so sad at 
times.” 

“ You are right, and I presume that is why she puts 
up with so much from Gregory. He is all that is left 
to her.” 

“ What became of the nurse ? ” 

“ She got better, and as soon as she was able to do 
so, she left the house and disappeared. She was afraid 
to face her former employers, for it was her going 
among her former low associates which brought on the 
malignant disease that brought death to three of her 
charges.” 

“ And she was never heard of afterward? ” 

“ Ho. I think her name was Matilda Rinsel.” 

“ Matilda Rinsel. I never heard the name before,” 
returned the boy, with a shake of his head. “ She must 
have been much older than either you or I.” 

“ Hot so very. She was quite young when she was 
a nurse for the Kenningtons.” 

Presently they arrived at the spot where the some- 
what grown-up path led to the river. They had come 
by a side road, which did not run through Carwell. 

“ How, PH have to tie up the horse and wagon,” said 
the artist. “ You can go ahead if you wish.” 

It was exactly noon, and the sun being directly over- 


178 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


head, made the walk through the dense woods a fairly 
light one. It did not take Larry long to reach the old 
mill, and a thorough look around convinced him that 
no one was about. 

“ Well, see anybody? ” questioned Howard Bruin 
as he came up. 

“ Hot a soul, and I didn’t expect to,” replied Larry. 
“ They knew better than to come back.” 

“ We will start on the outside of the mill first, in 
our search. Do not allow a foot of the ground to es- 
cape your notice.” 

“ All right. I’ll start up the stream and you can go 
down. We’ll work in a semicircle from the river, 
around the mill, to the river again.” 

This plan was adopted, and soon both were moving 
about, their heads close to the ground, as if their very 
lives depended on the thoroughness of their investiga- 
tions. 

Larry, having started up the stream, found himself 
on ground that was thick with loose stones, and brush 
of half a dozen varieties. There were also a number 
of treacherous holes, and it was not long before he 
slipped into one of these with such force that his left 
ankle received quite a severe sprain. 

He gave a low cry of pain, which reached the ears of 
Howard Bruin, who at once came rushing around the 
mill, demanding to know what was the matter. 

“ Nothing much,” returned Larry. “ I was foolish 


BACK TO THE OLD MILL 


179 


enough to slip into a hole and hurt my ankle a hit. It’s 
all right now.” 

“ I thought you had discovered something,” said the 
artist, somewhat disappointed. “ I can’t say that ” 

“ I have discovered something ! ” almost shouted 
Larry. “ Look here ! ” 

He dove his hand down into the hole into which he 
had slipped, and presently brought to light the top of 
a gold and silver sugar bowl! 


CHAPTER XXII 


SOMETHING IS FOUND AND STOLEN 

“ A sugar bowl top ! ” exclaimed Howard Bruin, as 
he gazed at the article in Larry’s hand. u You have 
struck the right place, my boy, beyond a doubt.” 

“ Do you recognize it as belonging to Mrs. Hox- 
well? ” questioned Larry with deep interest, as he 
turned the top over in his hand. 

“ I think I do; but see if it has not the Xoxwell coat 
of arms on it — a cross within a crown, and two deer 
heads on either side.” 

“ Yes, here you are.” 

Larry handed over the sugar bowl top, and pointed 
out the engraved portion to the artist, who examined 
it carefully. 

“ The Xoxwells’ without a doubt,” declared he. 
“ How much more of the plate is down in that 
hole? ” 

“ That I don’t know. But I’ll soon find out. The 
top was lying on a big flat stone. Perhaps there is 
more of the stuff under the stone.” 

“ Shall I help you remove it? ” 

“ If you can. It’s rather cramped down here.” 

180 


SOMETHING IS FOUND AND STOLEN 


181 


Larry still stood at the bottom of the opening, which 
had been concealed by a mass of overhanging brush. 
Howard Bruin was soon beside him, and together they 
tugged at the flat stone, and presently succeeded in 
overturning it. 

Their work was without recompense, however, for 
there was nothing beneath but soft ground, filled with 
worms. 

“ Bait,” said Larry laconically. 

“ Yes, but that is not what we are after,” returned 
Howard Bruin, in a disappointed tone. “ There isn’t 
a thing but this top, is there ? ” 

“ Not a thing. I fancy the plate was placed in here 
loosely and removed not long since. In the haste of 
the removal the sugar bowl top was dropped.” 

“ That must certainly be it. Of course it was Lomax 
and Boughton who hid the booty here, and the ques- 
tion is, where did they remove it to? ” 

“ Here are some footprints in the soft ground,” re- 
turned Larry, as he began a minute examination about 
the edges of the hole. “Do you see them? ” 

“ I do. They lead off in that direction, and they are 
made by two pairs of feet.” 

“ Lomax’s and Boughton’s, and they carried a bag 
or a box between them. That must have contained the 
I silver plate.” 

“ Let us follow the footprints and see where they 
j fetch up.” 


182 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


This suggestion was carried out, and at the end of 
ten minutes the boy and the artist found themselves at 
the mouth of a cleft in the rocks, at a point several 
hundred yards up the stream. 

Here the footprints entered on hard ground and 
stone and could no longer be followed. 

“ That’s the end of this trail,” remarked Howard 
Bruin, as he gazed around the rocks. “ It looks as if 
they crossed the river in a boat from this point.” 

“ Ho, I am satisfied they did not cross the river — at 
least not after those two farmers and myself got after 
them,” replied Larry positively. “ They had enough 
of the rough water and took to the road instead.” 

Larry approached the cleft in the rocks, and picking 
up a pointed stick began to poke around, first in one 
corner and then in another. This move at first only 
dislodged a few loose stones and brought to light a 
number of small and harmless snakes, which, however, 
caused both to jump around in a lively way, until the 
reptiles had slunk out of sight. 

“ See anything? ” questioned the artist, who had 
moved off on something which he thought might be the 
continuation of the trail. 

“ Hot yet, sir, but it’s in my mind they stopped here 
to do something. How if we — goodness gracious! 
Look out! ” 

Larry sprang back in alarm and Howard Bruin did 
the same. Almost at the same time a huge rock fell 


SOMETHING IS FOUND AND STOLEN 183 

away from the side of the cleft, revealing an irregular 
opening about three feet square! 

“Phew! but that was a narrow escape!” cried 
Howard Bruin, after the slab of rock had settled itself. 
“ Did it catch your foot, Larry? ” 

“ Hot quite, but as you say, it was a close shave. 
Look what a hole the rock left. It looks like a regular 
cave.” 

“Perhaps it is a cave!” ejaculated the artist. 
“ And if so, it’s just the place those robbers would 
choose in which to conceal the stolen plate.” 

“ That’s so, for a fact ! I’m going in and make a 
search. I wish I had a lantern; it’s as dark as Egypt 
in there.” 

“ I have a number of wax matches, and they will 
answer fairly well. Here, I will divide with you, and 
will follow on your heels. Look out now, so you don’t 
get a rock on your head or fall into a den of rattle- 
snakes.” 

Larry shivered at the reference to the deadly rep- 
tiles, yet he did not hesitate, but taking the wax 
matches the artist offered him, he lit one and entered 
the small opening before him. 

Of course he could do little more than crawl on his 
hands and knees, but before he had gone a distance of 
ten feet, he found the opening growing larger, and 
presently he stood in a regular cave, apparently ten 
feet square, and six to eight feet high. 


184 


LAKEY THE WANDERER 


The flooring of the cave was very irregular, as was 
also /the ceiling, which was apparently not over four 
feet below the surface of the rock overhead. A dim 
light streamed in through several crevices, opening up- 
ward on a slant. 

But what interested Larry and Howard Bruin more 
than anything else was a big bag lying in one corner of 
the cavern. It was a bag twice the size of an ordinary 
mail pouch, and made of rubber and oilcloth. One 
end of the bag was tied up with a stout piece of twine, 
and the ends of this twine were sealed. 

“ This must be the stolen stuff !” shouted Larry, en- 
thusiastically. “ But why in the world did they seal it 
up? ” 

“ They would not trust each other, and had not 
time to take a careful inventory of what the bag con- 
tained,” was the artist’s reply. “ So they tied up the 
bag, and each put the seal of his ring or watch charm 
on it, so that the other couldn’t open the bag during 
his absence. It is a case of a thief not trusting a 
thief.” 

“ I see. But haven’t we a perfect right to open the 
bag? ” 

“ I suppose so, but as we are suspected of this rob- 
bery, perhaps we had better place this in the hands of 
the police just as it is.” 

“Well, just as you say, sir,” returned the boy, 
although somewhat disappointed. “ It’s mighty 



“ This must be the stolen stuff 1 ” shouted Larry. — Page 184 









































































































SOMETHING IS FOUND AND STOLEN 


185 


heavy! ” he went on, as he picked up one end of the 
bag. 

“ Yes, it is heavy,” added the artist, as he caught 
hold also. “ And by its general appearance I cannot 
imagine what it can contain, if not the stolen plate.” 

“ I wonder if it’s got the stolen papers in it also? ” 

“ That remains to be seen. I hope it has.” 

“ Won’t it be to your interest if the papers do not 
turn up? ” 

“ Possibly, but I would rather have Mrs. Hoxwell 
recover them and then beat her in the lawsuit, after 
all. My lawyer claims I have a sure thing of it, and 
it is certainly preposterous for that woman to think I 
would descend so low as to rob her of the papers.” 

“ What shall we do with the bag? ” 

u Let us drag it out into the daylight. Perhaps we 
can place it in my wagon and take it to Cleveland at 
once.” 

By this time all their wax matches were burned up, 
and it was in the darkness that they had to take up 
their find and transfer it to the open air. 

“ Even if we don’t find Lomax and Boughton, they 
will be greatly astonished to learn that their booty 
is missing,” laughed Larry. u Fancy Pete Lomax’s 
face when he discovers that his little game has ended 
in failure.” 

“ We must not give up the search for the robbers,” 
said Howard Bruin decidedly. “ They must be caught 


186 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


by all means. If we simply restore the stolen stuff 
and do not catch the robbers we will only be about half 
cleared. Mrs. Noxwell may say we simply gave back 
the plate and papers because we got frightened.” 

“ That’s so. She is just mean enough.” 

“ We will take this bag to the wagon,” went on How- 
ard Bruin. “ Then supposing we return to the old 
mill and see if we cannot find some clew which will 
lead to a knowledge of the whereabouts of Lomax and 
Boughton? The fact that you found a letter there 
gives me hope that we will find something more.” 

“ That’s a good plan, sir. Come, let us hurry with 
the bag, for there is no time to lose.” 

Once again they took up their heavy burden and 
started off along the neglected path to where the horse 
and wagon had been left tied up. 

The bag was placed very carefully under the seat 
and covered with a blanket. 

“ There, I reckon it will be safe until we come back 
again,” remarked the artist, as they set their faces 
once more toward the old mill. 

Hardly had Larry and Howard Bruin disappeared 
from view when the bushes close at hand opened, and 
Pete Lomax and Luke Boughton stole into the little 
opening. 

“ It was a good thing that we came back to watch 
the place,” exclaimed Lomax in a low undertone. “ If 
we hadn’t done that we should have been sold out com- 


SOMETHING IS FOUND AND STOLEN 187 

pletely. How they ever stumbled on that hiding place 
beats me.” 

“ There is no time to talk it over now,” growled 
Boughton, as he began to untie the horse. “ Jump in; 
we haven't a minute to spare.” 

Lomax did as directed. A few seconds later Bough- 
ton hopped up beside him, and off the pair of rascals 
drove, in Howard Bruin's wagon, taking the bag of 
stolen goods with them. 


CHAPTER XXIII 


AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERT 

All unconscious of what had taken place after they 
had left the bag of stolen plate safe in the wagon, How- 
ard Bruin and Larry proceeded with all haste to the 
old mill. 

“ I don’t think it advisable to hunt around any 
more outside,” said the artist. “ It isn’t likely that 
there’s another bag of stolen stuff around.” 

“ That’s so,” returned Larry, “ we had better con- 
fine our search to the old mill. I have an idea that 
Pete Lomax made it a hanging-out place whenever 
he thought it unsafe to appear in Cleveland or else- 
where.” 

“ That would not be strange. A fellow of that 
description is more or less of an outcast, and an outcast 
doesn’t care how lonely a place is, so long as it is secure 
from intrusion — which didn’t happen to be in this 
case.” 

And Howard Bruin gave a short laugh at his last 
words. 

“ I can’t understand how Gregory Kennington ever 
188 


AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY 


189 


fell in with him,” observed Larry, with a thoughtful 
shake of his head. “ The two are as different as day 
is from night.” 

“ And Pete Lomax’s hold on him must be pretty 
strong, or he would make more of an effort to shake it 
off,” added the artist. 

When they entered the ground floor of the old mill 
their first movement was to throw open every door and 
window to its widest, so as to admit all the light possi- 
ble. This was an easy matter, as most of the doors 
and windows were open already. 

The two men began a systematic search in every 
nook and corner of the ground apartment. Not a box 
or pantry was left unsearched, and Larry even stirred 
over a heap of moldy shavings and sawdust that had 
apparently not been disturbed for years. 

But, to their disappointment, nothing was found 
there. Then they ascended the rickety stairs and en- 
tered the apartment where Lomax and Boughton had 
held their all-important interview. 

“ Look out for the wasps ! ” sang out Larry. 
“ They’ll prove ugly customers to combat if we rouse 
them up.” 

“ Never fear, I’ll be on my guard. I was stung 
once in my barn, and that was enough.” 

The search now began with renewed earnestness, as 
this was the very place that Larry had found the scrap 
of paper relating to Gregory Kennington. In one cor- 


190 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


ner a heap of old news and other papers were found, 
and under them more, scraps of paper, upon which ap- 
peared faded writing in several different hands. 

“ These mav be worthless, or of great value,” said 
Howard Bruin, as Larry called his attention to the 
scraps of paper. “ Pick them all up in your hat and 
bring them to the light.” 

The scraps were some twenty in number. Some 
were quite small, and others nearly a quarter of a sheet 
of note paper in size. In less than five minutes Larry 
had every one of them in his possession. 

The two proceeded downstairs and out into the open 
air, and here the scraps were laid out on a flat rock, 
and the two essayed to piece them together. 

“ There are three different handwritings here, so we 
can divide the scraps into three lots, according to the 
different hands. Then we can take one lot at a time 
and see what we can make of it.” 

“ This lot is in the same handwriting as the note 
sent to Gregory Kennington! ” exclaimed Larry, after 
an inspection of the piles. “ See what a queer shape 
that capital letter is? It was the same on the bit of 
note.” 

“We will put this note together first, then,” re- 
turned the artist, and this was done. 

“IPs not all here,” said Larry, after they had been 
at work for several minutes. 

As much as they had of the letter read as follows: 


AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY 


191 


“ will be on hand to see you. His name was 

that’s what he was called can make an easy 

deal with him I feel su Lomax.” 

“ This is from Lomax to some one else,” observed 
Howard Bruin. “ I wonder whom he has reference 
to?” 

“ Maybe me,” said Larry, with a clouded brow. 
“ It’s a good deal of a mystery. Perhaps the letter is 
one sent by Lomax to Boughton or another robber.” 

They now began to put the second lot of bits to- 
gether. But when they had been all placed, the letter 
proved of no value, but merely spoke of an order for 
dressed lumber. 

“ That belonged to the miller before he left here,” 
said the artist. a ¥e will now see what the last lot 
brings forth.” 

This was done. It was hard work to get the bits 
together, as they were much soiled and crumpled. But 
at last the task was completed, and the following lay 
before them: 

“Mr. Boughton: I will be in Carwell to see you 

next Thursday at the or at the if it is all right 

1 can easily identify the boy plenty of money, 

and I must have my share he is ignorant of this 

rather strange no use to go to the hos- 
pital in cash only. 


“ Josh mall.” 


192 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ What ! ” shouted Larry, springing to his feet 
in amazement. “ Can it be possible?” 

“ Can what be possible?” asked Howard Bruin in 
wonder. 

“ See that signature? Complete, it would be Joshua 
Small.” 

“ Well, I think so myself; but what of that? ” 

“ Didn’t I once tell you that Joshua Small was the 
man I was working for after I got out of the industrial 
institution? ” 

“ Come to think of it, I believe you did.” 

“ This letter was sent to Luke Boughton by him,” 
went on Larry excitedly. “ And I’ll bet a new hat it 
refers to me, and so does that other letter. The first 
letter is from Lomax to Boughton, stating that Small 
is coming to see him about me, and this states he is 
coming on to identify me. But what about plenty of 
cash? ” and Larry’s brow grew more perplexed than 
ever. 

“ The letter states you are ignorant of something,” 
replied Howard Bruin, with deep interest. “ That is, 
if you are the person meant.” 

“ I am ignorant of my past life,” said the boy bit- 
terly. “ Who knows but that Small has discovered 
something — there, I have it! Why in the world didn’t 
I think of it before? ” 

As Larry spoke he struck a fist in his open hand, 
and his face brightened up wonderfully. 


AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY 


193 


“ Have what? It seems to me you are making lots of 
discoveries just now.” 

“So I am. Do you remember me saying that I 
thought I had seen Pete Lomax before? Well, I am 
right. I have seen him before. He called on Joshua 
Small two or three times. I did not see much of him, 
but I saw enough to remember his face, now that it is 
brought back to my mind.” 

“ Then he and this Small must be in league in some 
way.” 

“ Yes, and this Boughton is in with them, too. I 
said Small was a very mean man, but I must say I 
never thought him dishonest.” 

“ It looks to me as if he was going to sell his secret 
to Boughton for a certain price,” observed the artist 
thoughtfully. “ How, he wouldn’t set a price unless 
the secret was worth something.” 

“ It’s certainly a puzzle, Mr. Bruin, but I’m 
dead sure I’m the boy mentioned, and this makes 
it all the more important that we catch the rob- 
bers.” 

“ Well, we have spent too much time over the let- 
ters,” said the artist, springing up. “ Come, we will 
finish our search without delay.” 

They repaired again to the old mill, and in the course 
of the next half hour went over every portion of the 
upper part of the structure carefully. Nothing more 
of importance came to light, and soon after they set 


194 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


out on their return to where the horse and wagon had 
been left standing. 

“ Can it be possible that Joshua Small can have had 
anything to do with the robbery? ” questioned Howard 
Bruin, as they pushed along the half-obliterated path- 
way. 

“ I hardly think that, sir,” replied Larry. “ There 
were only two seals on the bag, if you remember. I 
think that proves that there were only two concerned 
in the robbery.” 

“ That is true. I had forgotten about the seals. I 
rather imagine Justice Baum will be astonished when 
he hears of our find.” 

“ I am anxious to learn if those papers are in the 
bag. If they are not ” 

Larry came to a sudden stop, and both he and How- 
ard Bruin looked at each other in dismay. They had 
discovered that the horse and wagon had disappeared. 


CHAPTER XXIY 


ON THE ROAD ONCE MORE 


“ Gone! ” 

The word sprang from the lips of Larry and Howard 
Bruin simultaneously. The horse and wagon had van- 
ished, and also the bag of stolen plate. 

“ Who could have taken my turnout? ” asked How- 
ard Bruin. “ Lomax or Boughton?” 

“ Both, most likely/’ said Larry bitterly. “ How 
foolish we were to leave it there unguarded.” 

“ Perhaps the horse got loose and wandered away 
of his own accord,” suggested the artist, hoping 
against hope. “ Let us make the inspection.” 

This was easily done. The ground all about was 
soft and full of footprints, and some of these the keen- 
eyed boy soon recognized. 

“ These are the same footprints which led up to the 
cave. Beyond a doubt, Lomax and Boughton have 
stolen your turnout and made off with it.” 

“ If they did that they must have been watching us 
all the while ! ” cried the artist excitedly. 

“ True; and now they again have the bag of stolen 
stuff in their possession.” 


195 


196 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


Both wondered how long the turnout had been gone 5 
and what direction the thieves had taken. 

“ One thing is certain, it won’t do to waste time 
here; we must be after them,” said Larry decidedly. 
“ Come on as far as the road. We may find some clew 
there.” 

So on as far as the main road they went. On looking 
up and down as far as the eye could see, all was de- 
serted. But presently, from a distance, a farmer’s 
wagon hove into sight. 

On the seat was an old man half asleep. As he came 
opposite to them, Larry hailed him, and asked him if 
he had seen anything of Howard Bruin’s turnout, de- 
scribing both the horse and wagon at the same 
time. 

The old farmer shook his head. 

“ Didn’t pass no wagon ’ceptin’ Joel Bangor’s, with 
a load o’ feed on,” he said. “ You see, thar ain’t much 
travelin’ done in these parts, nohow.” 

“ Then will you take us with you for a short dis- 
tance? ” broke in Howard Bruin eagerly. “ I am after 
a couple of chaps who stole my horse and wagon. I 
will pay you well for your trouble.” 

“ Gosh, so they stole your team, eh? ” 

“ Yes.” 

“ Then hop in and we’ll spin after ’em. I don’t 
want no pay, Mr. Bruin.” 

“ Ah, you know me, I see.” 


ON THE ROAD ONCE MORE 


197 


“ Ye-as. Fm old Dick Andrews, of Carwell. Don’t 
you remember me an’ that harness trade ’bout a year 
ago ? ” 

“ Oh, yes ; you got the best of the trade, too,” and 
the artist smiled faintly. 

“ Ha ! ha ! I ruther think I did ! ” roared the old 
farmer. “ So I can afford to tote you two along fer 
nuthin’, can’t I? Hop in an’ we’ll be off.” 

Howard Bruin and Larry needed no second invita- 
tion. They sprang up beside old Dick Andrews, who 
at once whipped up his horse — rather a fine-looking 
animal — and away they went. 

The old farmer wished to know all the particulars 
of the theft of the wagon, but the artist told him no 
more than was actually necessary under the circum- 
stances. 

“ If they came this way, they might have turned off 
at a number of places,” said Larry. 

“ That’s so, boy,” said Dick Andrews. “ But it an’t 
likely they would leave the main road unless they 
was putty well acquainted with the country round- 
about.” 

“ Where are you bound?” put in Howard Bruin, 
his eyes on all the side roads that were passed. 

“ I’m goin’ straight to Carwell,” was the farmer’s 
reply. 

“ I have an idea,” said the artist to Larry. “ Sup- 
posing you keep on to Carwell, and I drop off at the 


198 


LAKEY THE WANDERER 


next cross-roads and begin investigations along the 
way. If we separate, our chances of finding them will 
be just doubled/*’ 

“ I am willing, sir, but won’t you be afraid to tackle 
them alone ? ” 

“ If I find they look dangerous, I will simply keep 
my eye on them until I can summon help. Here we 
are at the cross road to Landsdown. Good-by! ” 

The artist sprang down, and the next moment was 
striding down the cross road with rapid steps. 

“ He’s a fine fellow,” observed old Dick Andrews, 
as he whipped up his horse once more. “ I hope he gits 
thet rig o’ his back ag’in.” 

“ I don’t know if the thieves would dare drive into 
Carwell,” said Larry. “ But I might as well go there 
as anywhere. In the absence of clews, it’s as well to 
set out in one direction as in another.” 

On and on the farm wagon rattled, until finally the 
outskirts of Carwell appeared, and soon the pretty 
white church — the first building on the road — was 
passed, and they entered on the main street. 

“ You’re having high old times here,” remarked 
Larry, as the sight of a group of idle men standing on 
a comer put him in mind that a strike was in progress 
at the car shops. 

“ Ye-as, finer ’n we want ’em,” growled the old 
farmer. “ Fust thing we know the car shop people 
and their workmen will have a pitched battle, an’ then 


ON THE ROAD ONCE MORE 


199 


there won’t be no tellin’ where the matter will end. 
I tell you, I wish the matter was settled, bless me if 
I don’t.” 

“ Who is to blame in the matter? ” 

“ Both sides. The firm is meaner ’n dirt, and the 
workmen want the earth, to put it short. Say, where 
do you want to go? ” 

“ You may as well set me down right here.” 

“ Can’t I help you no more ? ” 

“ I don’t think you can, thank you.” 

The two separated, and Dick Andrews drove off 
toward his home, which was on the opposite side of 
the town. 

Larry noticed that the men and boys standing about 
eyed him curiously, as he passed along. But he kept 
on his guard, resolved, if possible, to avoid any unneces- 
sary trouble with the strikers. 

“ Hullo! back again?” called a voice to him pres- 
ently, and Larry found the speaker was the boy who 
had before challenged him. 

“ Yes,” returned Larry coolly. 

“ Did you catch that fellow on horseback you were 
after yesterday?” 

“ No, I did not. I am looking for him again. I 
have an idea he came back to Carwell in a wagon with 
another man.” 

“ When? ” 

“ Just a while ago.” 


200 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ There were a couple of men passed through only 
half an hour ago.” 

“ What kind of horse did they have? ” 

“ A white and gray, and the wagon had a red and 
yellow body.” 

“ That’s the rig! ” cried Larry. “ You didn’t notice 
the two men? ” 

“ I believe one of them had a red beard.” 

“ Those are the chaps I am after. Where did they 
go?” 

“ Went up the road past the car shops.” 

“ In that direction? ” 

“ Yes; but hold up! ” and the boy caught Larry by 
the arm. 

“ Wlmt’s the matter now? ” 

“ You had better not go that way.” 

“ Why not? ” 

“ There is a gang of strikers up there, and they 
mean trouble. You will get hurt if you go.” 

“ But I’m not here to interfere in this matter — I’ll 
give you my word of honor I’m not.” 

The other smiled. How that he was alone with 
Larry, he did not appear half so tough as formerly, 
and, indeed, his manner of speech was very much 
modified. 

“ Well, I believe you, but some of ’em won’t, they’re 
so worked up over this difficulty.” 

“ See here ! ” exclaimed Larry, as a sudden thought 


ON THE ROAD ONCE MORE 


201 


struck him. “ Can’t you come with me and explain 
matters if they stop me ? I want to catch those thieves, 
and if I do, I’ll promise that you shall he well paid for 
the trouble you take in my behalf.” 

“ I’ll do that, sure as my name is Mck Dennitt. 
What’s your handle ? ” 

“ Larry Curly.” 

“ All right, Larry; come on, I’ll show you where that 
wagon went.” 

Mck Dennitt started to walk down the street, when 
suddenly Larry caught him by the shoulder. 

“ Wait a minute, I want to get out of the way! ” he 
exclaimed. “ I don’t want that man across the way to 
see me! ” 

The man Larry referred to had just put in an ap- 
pearance around an opposite corner. It was the boy’s 
former employer, Joshua Small! 


CHAPTER XXV 


A LIVELY MEETING 

As soon as he caught sight of Joshua Small, Larry 
jumped out of sight behind a tree, and instinctively 
Nick Dennitt followed suit. 

“ What’s the matter with that man? ” asked the big 
boy. “ He ain’t one of them men you’re after, is he? ” 

“ He’s not one of the two, but he’s a man I am after 
nevertheless,” replied Larry, as he kept his keen eyes 
fixed on the movements of his former employer. 

“ Seems to me you are after ’most every one in 
town,” remarked Nick Dennitt suspiciously. 

“ Hardly,” laughed Larry. “ But I’m after that 
man sure — almost more so than after the others.” 

“ Well, why don’t you go out and meet him? ” 

“ I want to watch him and see where he goes.” 

By this time Joshua Small had passed the corner 
and was making his way down a somewhat deserted 
side street. He walked along rather slowly, as one 
unaccustomed to the locality, and fearful of making 
some mistake. 

“ I’m going to follow him,” said Larry to the big 
boy. “ I won’t want your services just now.” 

202 


A LIVELY MEETING 


203 


“ You won’t, eh? How about that reward?” 

“ I won’t forget you, Hick. And here is a quarter in 
the meantime.” 

Hick Dennitt pounced on the piece of silver Larry 
fished from his pocket, and then the two separated. 

Making sure that he was not seen, Larry cautiously 
left his hiding place and followed Joshua Small along 
the side street. 

After walking a distance of several hundred feet, 
the man turned into an irregular lane, which ran down 
to the river bank. Here were situated a number of 
storehouses belonging to the car company, and beyond 
them was a brick building, which had, in former years, 
done duty as a varnish works. 

Joshua Small paused in front of the brick building 
and gazed suspiciously along the lane and up and down 
the river bank. Larry at once sprang out of sight 
behind a pile of rubbish, and he was not seen. 

In another moment Joshua Small had pushed open 
the door of the deserted varnish works and entered the 
building. 

He left the door open behind him, and at first Larry 
thought of following him inside. 

But while the boy was deliberating, Joshua Small 
came to the door again and looked up the lane sus- 
piciously. 

Seeing no one, he came out and walked off toward 
the river. 


204 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ He is waiting for Lomax and Boughton,” thought 
Larry. “ This is to be the meeting place. I’ll wait 
and see what happens next.” 

Nearly five minutes passed. Joshua Small, after 
walking to the water’s edge, came back slowly. Larry 
watched him closely, and at last saw the man’s face 
brighten. 

Then J oshua Small emitted a short, shrill whistle. 

Almost immediately came back an answering whistle 
from up the lane, and Pete Lomax appeared in sight. 

With swift steps the robber approached and shook 
Joshua Small by the hand. 

“ Been waiting long? ” he asked. 

“ Have I? ” exclaimed Joshua Small. “ I’ve been in 
town since early morning. I waited at the hotel till 
I was tired.” 

“ Come on in the varnish works.” 

“ Can’t we walk around? It don’t smell very well 
in there.” 

“ Can’t help it, J osh. I don’t want to be seen around 
here.” 

“ Been up to some of your tricks, eh? ” 

“ Never mind; I don’t want to be seen, that’s all.” 

“ Certainly, certainly,” returned Joshua Small ner- 
vously. “ I’ll go in if you say so.” 

Pete Lomax led the way, and the pair passed out of 
Larry’s sight and hearing. 

The boy was undecided what to do, but only for an 


A LIVELY MEETING 205 

instant. Then he made a detour and came up in the 
rear of the building. 

Here were a number of iron shutters. They were 
rusty from age, and several stood partly open. Climb- 
ing up on a handy pile of railroad ties, Larry peered 
into the nearest window. 

All was dark inside, and he realized at once that this 
was a different apartment from the one Lomax and his 
former employer had entered. 

“ Lll venture it,” said Larry to himself and, climb- 
ing between the iron shutters, he lowered himself in- 
side the building. He made no noise, and as soon as he 
struck the floor he listened intently. He heard the 
murmur of voices from close at hand, and was able, 
presently, to distinguish what was being said. 

“ But ten thousand dollars is a pile of money, Josh,” 
came to his ears in Lomax’s voice. 

“ That’s so, I know it,” returned Joshua Small. 
u But jess see what you and Boughton mean to make 
out of it! ” 

“ We may not make anything out of it.” 

Joshua Small gave a contemptuous laugh. 

“ I ain’t worried about it,” he said. “ You and 
Boughton wouldn’t go into it at all unless you were 
pretty sure of what you were doing.” 

“ Yes, but matters have changed since we saw you 
last, Josh — changed for the worse.” 

“ How? ” 


206 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ Well, I don’t care to say — but this much I will 
say; it will be ten times harder for us to make the deal 
now than it would have been a couple of weeks ago.” 

“ That ain’t my fault.” 

“ I don’t say it is — but if we’ve got to pay you 
too much, perhaps we would rather drop the mat- 
ter.” 

At this juncture there was a noise outside and both 
sprang to the door to see who was coming. 

The new arrival was Luke Boughton. He breathed 
heavily and was dripping with perspiration. 

“ Confound this strike ! ” he exclaimed. “ The car- 
shop hands watch a fellow like a cat watches a mouse. 
I don’t know whether I’ve been followed or not.” 

“Is it safe?” questioned Lomax significantly. 

“ Yes.” 

“ And the horse and wagon? ” 

“ All right too.” Luke Boughton shook hands with 
J oshua Small. “ On hand, I see.” 

“ Yes, and ready for business.” 

“Well, we can’t do business here, Small.” 

“ Why not? ” 

“ On account of the strike, which has upset the 
whole town, and — on account of another matter.” 

“ But where shall we go? ” questioned Joshua Small, 
considerably disturbed. 

“ Look here, supposing we separate, to meet in Chi- 
cago one week from to-day. Believe me, that will be 


A LIVELY MEETING 


207 


the best for all hands. As affairs stand now, Pete and 
I cannot push matters. Ain’t that so, Pete? ” 

“ Exactly so.” 

“ But I don’t feel like going to Chicago,” replied 
Larry’s former employer. “ I ought to be back in 
New York State now.” 

“Well, but ” began Boughton. “What’s 

that? ” 

He asked the question hurriedly, as a loud shouting 
from outside reached their ears. All three of the men 
rushed to the door. 

“A fight among the strikers and the new hands! ” 
exclaimed Pete Lomax. “ Look at the sticks and 
stones fly! Somebody will be killed soon! ” 

“ They are coming this way ! ” shrieked J oshua 
Small. “ Oh! what shall we do? I do not wish to be 
mixed up in this row.” 

“ We’ll get into the next room and bolt the door, 
returned Luke Boughton hurriedly. “ Come on, 
quick! ” 

He ran to the door and threw it open. Larry had 
no time to retreat. 

“ By Jove! You? ” howled Lomax, who was directly 
behind him. 

“ Here’s the boy who followed us to the mill! ” 

“A boy?” said Joshua Small, as he crowded into 
the room and slammed the door behind him. “ W ell, 
by gum! Larry! ” he fairly shouted. 


208 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ Yes, Mr. Small,” returned the boy, as coolly as 
he could. 

Lomax and Boughton looked at each other signifi- 
cantly. 

“ Is he the boy? ” questioned the latter, turning to 
Joshua Small. 

“ Yes.” 

“Well, ril be jiggered,” muttered Boughton; and 
his words meant a good deal. 


CHAPTER XXVI 


FLIGHT 

Larry was deeply interested in the scene between 
the two robbers and his former employer, Joshua 
Small. It proved to him, beyond a doubt, that he was 
the boy mentioned in the letters found in the old mill. 

And this being so, he was doubly anxious to learn 
the particulars of the secret Joshua Small possessed, 
and which Lomax and Boughton were to purchase, as 
an investment, out of which to secure a fortune. 

“ This is the boy beyond a doubt, eh?” said Pete 
Lomax. 

“ Yes, that’s Larry,” returned Joshua Small. 

“ The boy from the hospital and the institution? ” 

The farmer from Hew York State nodded. Then 
he turned to the boy. 

“ Look here, Larry, what did you want to run away 
from me for? ” 

“ Got tired of the hard life you led me,” responded 
the wanderer coolly. 

He felt satisfied that Joshua Small could no longer 
hold him as what he had been pleased to term “ a 
bound boy.” 


209 


210 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


u I’ve had a hard time a-tracin’ of you ! ” 

“ It was a pity you took the trouble, Mr. Small.” 

“ Was it? ” snarled Joshua Small. “ Did you think 
I was goin’ to let you go so easily? ” 

“ I didn’t think at all. I wanted to go, and I went. 
That’s simple enough, isn’t it ? ” 

“ You had no right to go.” 

“ That’s a matter of opinion.” 

“ I can have you arrested for going away.” 

“ Go ahead and try it,” returned Larry reck- 
lessly. 

“You dare me?” howled Joshua Small, his anger 
rising. 

Larry appeared to be quite a different boy from what 
he had been when a slave on the farm. 

“ I certainly do, Mr. Small. By the way, let me ask 
a question. What are you doing here in the company 
of these two robbers? ” 

“ Bobbers!” gasped Joshua Small, turning slightly 
pale. 

“ Shut up ! ” put in Luke Boughton roughly. “ The 
boy doesn’t know what he is talking about.” 

“ Yes, I do,” returned Larry. “ You and Lomax 
there robbed Mrs. Nox ” 

“ Will you shut up? ”, hissed Boughton fiercely; and 
he struck out with his fist, aiming a blow at Larry’s 
head. 

The boy dodged, and tried to retreat. But now 


FLIGHT 


211 


Lomax caught hold of him, and in a trice the two men 
had thrown the youth to the floor. 

“We’ll bind and gag him! ” said Boughton. “He 
won’t be able to ” 

A loud shouting outside caused him to break off. In 
the excitement attending the unexpected meeting, all 
inside of the varnish works had forgotten about the 
row of the car-works people in the lane. 

A sudden crash followed the shouting, and then the 
door of the outer apartment was burst open, and half 
a dozen men and grown up boys poured into the place. 

“ Down with the scabs ! ” 

“ Don’t let him go, fellers ! He’s takin’ the bread 
out of honest men’s mouths! ” 

“ Let up on me ! ” yelled a tall, raw-boned individual. 
“ Let up, or it will be the worse for all hands. I got 
the job fairly, and ” 

A chorus of derisive howls drowned out the re- 
mainder of the speech, and a fierce fight began to wage 
inside of the varnish works. 

“We must leave here! ” said Joshua Small, whose 
face was white with terror. “ Somebody will be 
killed! ” 

“ Yes, we’ll get out,” returned Boughton. 

“ And we’ll take the boy with us.” 

He turned to Larry. 

“ Get out of the window, and in double-quick time, 
boy I ” 


212 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


Larry stood up and faced the trio. As he did so, 
there came another crash, and three men, two fighting 
the one, sprawled into the space between him and his 
tormentors. 

“ Stop the fighting! ” sang out the boy clearly. 
“ Stop, I say ! Here is more important work to do ! ” 

The three men, astonished to find the inner shop 
occupied, left off wrangling for a moment, and stared 
first at the boy, and then at the men confronting him. 

“ What’s that? ” asked the tallest of the trio. 

“ Help me capture those three men,” went on 
Larry. 

“ Capture them? Are they scabs? ” 

“ Worse than that. They are robbers, at least two 
of them are. Do not let them get away if you want to 
earn a big reward.” 

The mention of robbers and a reward made the three 
men forget all about their own quarrel, and they 
crowded about Larry. 

“ Who did they rob? ” 

“ Those two robbed Mrs. Hoxwell’s residence a few 
nights ago, and that man is in league with them.” 

“ I heard of that robbery,” said one of the men. 
“ You are sure they are the guilty parties? ” 

“ Positive. It is big money in your pockets to bring 
them to justice.” 

“ It is, eh? Then here goes for that money. Come 
on, Bill! Never mind Quitman now.” 


FLIGHT 


213 


“ But Quitman is going to have a hand in this,” 
said the third man. 

The three men rushed upon Joshua Small, Lomax, 
and Boughton, and Larry jumped in to aid them. 

But now more men and some boys poured into the 
apartment, and sticks and stones, as well as lumps of 
soft mud, flew in all directions. 

In the melee, Larry became separated from the men 
he was after, and although he tried his best, he could 
not again find them. 

He became mixed up in a crowd of the strikers, who 
took him for a “ scab,” and attacked him vigorously 
from all sides. 

He fought them off as best he could, but received 
a blow in the face, and another in the neck which all 
but stunned him. 

At last, seeing it was useless to attempt to fight his 
way clear, he began to retreat, and it was not long 
before he had left all of the crowd behind him. 

He looked around in vain for Lomax and the others, 
but could see nothing of them. 

“Got away, Til bet a button,” he groaned. “Was 
there ever such luck? And just at the moment, too, 
when I thought I was going to get to the bottom of this 
secret which surrounds my life.” 

As Larry made his way still farther from the scene 
of battle, his thoughts were busy. Who was he, and 
why were these three men so interested in his future? 


214 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


What in the world did it mean, this striving to get him 
in their power? And what of this money that was 
mentioned so frequently? 

“ There may be money coming to me/’ he thought. 
“ If there is, I must say I would like to get hold of it. 
I’ve been poor long enough, goodness knows ! ” 

There was a large lump behind his ear, left there 
by the cruel blow he had received from one of the 
strikers. Going down to the edge of the river, the boy 
wet his handkerchief and began to bathe the injured 
part. 

He felt satisfied that none of the three men he was 
after had been caught. The question then was : Where 
had they gone ? 

“ For all I know, they may be off for Chicago/’ was 
his mental comment. “ I’m pretty sure that is where 
Lomax and Bough ton would go, even if Joshua Small 
refused to follow. What a cunning rascal that farmer 
must be! I would like to trip him up, just to get 
square for some of those thrashings he used to give 
me.” 

When the lump on his neck felt somewhat easier, 
Larry washed his face, and then continued on his way 
to the main part of Carwell. He was determined, if 
possible, to trace up the whereabouts of Howard 
Bruin’s wagon, and the bag of stolen plate. 

Fortunately, the quarrel down by the varnish works 
had taken all of the strikers to that locality, so there 


FLIGHT 


215 


remained no one to molest him as he walked past the 
various stores and dwellings. 

Meeting no one, he attempted to go into several 
stores and inquire of those in charge if they had seen 
the wagon pass earlier in the day, but in this endeavor 
he was disappointed. Every place of business was 
locked up, and the shop-keepers who had shutters had 
placed them in position to protect their window glass. 

“ The strikers rule the town, and no mistake,” he 
said to himself. “ No doubt the tradespeople will be 
glad when the difficulty is settled.” 

Presently Larry found himself at the extreme 
western outskirt of Carwell. A crooked road lay be- 
fore him, leading to he knew not where. 

“ Now, what’s to be done? ” he thought. “ Shall I 
go back? ” 

The question answered itself, as a horse and wagon 
dashed into view. It was Howard Bruin’s turnout, and 
on the seat sat Pete Lomax! 


CHAPTER XXVII 


THE CAPTUEE 

The wagon containing Lomax came along at a spank- 
ing gait, and Larry had no time to consider what was 
best to do in the matter. There was one of the robbers 
in sight, in fact, in possession of the stolen rig, and 
whatever was to be done must be done quickly. 

It would do no good to shout at Lomax. Probably 
he would only drive the faster, and once out of sight, 
there was no surmising where he would go. 

But as we well know, Larry was an unusually 
shrewd boy. He appeared to think of just the right 
thing to do. Without opening his mouth to yell, he 
made a dash for the rear end of the wagon, as it 
whirled past, and caught hold of the tail-board. 

He was dragged forward for several yards. Then 
he pulled up his lower limbs and rested his feet on the 
rear axle. For the time being he was safe. 

Lomax had not seen him thus far, and the boy did 
his utmost to keep out of sight. The position was not 
a comfortable one, for the wagon jolted roughly over 
the loose stones, and a thick cloud of dust arose, which 
almost choked him; but now was no time for com- 
plaining. 


216 


THE CAPTURE 


217 


tc Fll stick to him this time, sure pop ! ” was Larry’s 
mental resolve, and he meant it. 

Lomax appeared to be thoroughly alarmed, for he 
kept whipping the horse continually, even when the 
animal was apparently doing his best to make time. 
Evidently, the man was under the impression that he 
was being followed. 

“ I hope he is,” said Larry to himself. “ I shall have 
my hands full capturing him alone.” 

After a mile had been passed, and while Lomax was 
urging the horse to keep up his swift gait, Larry pulled 
himself up and peered under the seat of the wagon. 

It was then that he made the dismaying discovery 
that the bag of stolen plate was gone. 

u I might have known it,” he groaned. u They 
wouldn’t be as foolish as Mr. Bruin and I were, and 
leave it under the seat. I suppose he and Boughton 
have hidden it till matters take a quieter turn.” 

On and on went the wagon, as rapidly as ever, until 
Larry judged that they must be all of five miles from 
Carwell, and about the same distance from Spurnham. 
But on what road they were, and where they would 
come out, he had not the least idea. 

Thus far they had passed no houses, but now they 
came in sight of a long row of shanties, backed up by 
half a dozen deserted factories. 

The shanties were, with one exception, tenantless. 
The exception was occupied by a German family, the 


218 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


mother and six young children of which were out in 
the road as the wagon drove past. 

“ Stealin’ a ride ! Stealin’ a ride ! ” shouted a flaxen- 
haired boy at Larry, as they sped by. 

The other children took up the cry, until the chorus 
attracted Pete Lomax’s attention. 

“ Git off there ! ” he cried, without seeing who the 
rider behind was. 

To this command Larry paid no attention, and he 
also took good care to keep out of sight as before. 

“ Did you hear what I said? ” yelled Lomax. “ I 
ain’t carrying any free passengers this trip.” 

Larry continued to keep silent. By this time the 
row of shanties was left behind, and the cries of the 
children had ceased. 

“ They must have been trying to fool me,” mut- 
tered the robber. “ I reckon there ain’t anybody on.” 

Again he lashed the horse, and once more they began 
to move along at full speed. 

Presently a bit of up-hill road was struck. Here the 
dust lay deep, and it was all the tired horse could do to 
make headway that was satisfactory to Lomax. 

The dust was kicked in a perfect cloud. Larry tried 
to avoid it, but his effort was in vain. The blinding 
mass got into his eyes and ears and finally into his 
nose. 

The result was, first a smothered sneeze, and then 
several loud ones, which would have been heard quite 


THE CAPTURE 219 

plainly by a man with far less acute ears than those of 
Pete Lomax. 

The robber jumped up on the seat, and then called 
on the horse to stop. 

“Come, now, show yourself!” he called out. “I 
won’t have any more of this! ” 

For reply, Larry only gave another prolonged 
sneeze. Thoroughly enraged, Lomax sprang to the 
ground. Larry also emerged from his highly uncom- 
fortable position; and the next instant the two faced 
each other. 

“ So it’s you? ” exclaimed the robber, starting back 
in astonishment. 

“ Yes, it is I,” returned Larry boldly. “ You didn’t 
quite expect to see me, I take it.” 

“ I must say I did not. What do you expect to gain 
by following me in this fashion, boy? ” 

“ I am going to hand you over to justice,” was the 
bold reply. “I set out to do it from the start, and I’m 
going to do it.” 

“ You talk altogether too big for a boy! ” growled 
Lomax, his face darkening. “ Do you know that 
we are all alone here, and this is a mighty lonely 
spot?” 

He said this with so much significance that a less 
brave boy than Larry would have shuddered. But the 
wanderer had faced too many perils to be thus easily 
daunted. 


220 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ What would you dare to do? ” he questioned reck- 
lessly. 

“Never mind, now. But I’ll tell you one thing. 
The best thing, — the very best, — for you to do is to 
get back to Carwell or Cleveland at once ; give up every 
notion of capturing Boughton or me. The thing can’t 
be done, and you’ll only run a big risk in trying to 
do it.” 

“ You can’t scare me so easily, Lomax. You know, 
and so do I, that there is more behind this than the 
recovery of Mrs. Noxwell’s plate and her papers. You 
are trying to work another game, in which I somehow 
figure, and I’m going to make it my business to find 
out what that game is.” 

At these words, the robber’s face grew darker than 
ever. 

“Boy, you know too much!” he ejaculated, as he 
strode forward, and raised the whip he carried. “ You 
are a fool to think that you — a mere stripling — can 
do anything against me, a man. You must have been 
reading half -dime novels.” 

“ No, I read something more exciting than half- 
dime novels; I read the daily newspapers,” was Larry’s 
reply, delivered in his old-time dry way. “ Maybe I 
am nothing but a boy, but — here goes, Lomax! ” 

With the agility of a cat, he sprang upon the man, 
and tripped him up backward. The movement was so 
unexpected that Lomax had no time to defend himself, 


THE CAPTURE 


221 


or even resist, and in less time than it takes to tell it 
he found himself flat on his back. As he went down, 
Larry wrenched the whip from his grasp. 

“ Hold on ! ” yelled Lomax, and his cry was so loud 
that the horse took fright, and started forward on a 
run. 

“ See that, you’ve scared the horse,” growled the 
robber. “ I’ll fix you for this! There he goes! ” 

“ And I’ll fix you if you attempt to move ! ” replied 
Larry with spirit. “ Understand, Lomax, that I mean 
business this time. Stop where you are.” 

“ What do you intend to do ? ” 

“ I’ll hit you with the butt end of the whip if you 
attempt to rise,” was Larry’s determined reply, as he 
brandished the weapon in the air. 

“ You can’t keep me here all day,” grumbled Lo- 
max, as he fell back in the dust once more, not relish- 
ing the idea of receiving such a blow as Larry seemed 
capable of administering. 

“ That’s true, but I’ll keep you here for a while — 
till help comes.” 

“ It won’t come. This road is almost deserted the 
year ’round.” 

“ We’ll wait and see.” 

Lomax was silent for a few minutes. Larry eyed 
him closely, ready to strike at the first sign of resist- 
ance. 

“ Come, come, boy, this is a farce,” growled Lomax 


222 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


at length. “ Let me up, and I’ll come down hand- 
somely.” 

“ You came down handsomely enough just a bit 
ago,” grinned Larry. “ That was enough for me, 
thank you.” 

“ None of your chaff, boy.” 

“ Then don’t talk to me.” 

“ I won’t. How do you like that? ” 

Lomax doubled up quickly, and then shot out his 
two big feet at Larry, intending to catch the boy in the 
stomach. But Larry sprang back. 

Lomax then attempted to rise, and received a cut 
over the shoulder with the whip. A fierce hand-to- 
hand struggle followed. Larry was hardly a match 
for the robber, but he held on bravely. 

Then a man in a wagon appeared on the scene. The 
turnout was that belonging to Howard Bruin, and the 
man on the seat was the artist himself. 


CHAPTER XXVIII 


AN ASTONISHING STATEMENT 

It was a most opportune arrival, for had Howard 
Bruin come a minute later, Pete Lomax might have 
been in a position to run for the woods to the north of 
the dusty road. 

The artist lost no time in springing to the ground 
and in rushing forward to where the row was in prog- 
ress. 

“ Hold him, Larry; don’t let him get away! ” 

“ I don’t intend he shall get away,” gasped the boy, 
who, if the truth must be told, was pretty well winded. 

Lomax had heard Howard Bruin’s voice, although 
he did not see the artist, and he redoubled his efforts 
to get away. He had almost succeeded when the other 
caught him by the arm and hurled him backward. 

“ How, stand where you are, Lomax, or it will be the 
worse for you! ” he commanded. 

The robber thus confronted attempted to draw a 
pistol, but between them Larry and Howard Bruin 
quickly disarmed him. 

“ How, Larry, bring the strap from the wagon, and 
we’ll bind his hands.” 


223 


224 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“I won’t submit!” roared Pete Lomax, but he 
quickly became quiet when Howard Bruin exhibited 
the pistol he had taken from the robber. 

The strap was brought, and while the artist watched 
matters, Larry bound Lomax’s hands behind him. 

“Was he alone?” questioned the artist. 

“ Yes; I followed him all the way from Carwell.” 

“ Where is Bough ton and the bag? ” 

“ That I don’t know.” 

“ It was lucky I came along the road when I did. 
We have recovered the horse and wagon and have one 
of the robbers.” 

“Robbers! What are you talking about?” blus- 
tered Lomax. “I am not a robber! ” 

“ We’ll let that matter rest until you are in the court 
room,” replied the artist briefly. “ Come, get into the 
wagon.” 

Lomax tried to raise all sorts of objections, but 
neither of his captors would listen. 

“ I can prove you are a robber,” said Larry. “ And 
the best you can do is to confess and give up the stolen 
stuff.” 

“ I haven’t anything to confess. I haven’t any 
stuff.” 

This was all Lomax would say. 

But on the return to Carwell he tried several times 
to escape. Each effort was unsuccessful, and Larry 
and the artist only watched him the closer. 


AN ASTONISHING STATEMENT 


225 


At Carwell the two found the town still in such a 
state of excitement that they concluded it would be 
best to take Lomax directly to Cleveland. 

“ But if we do that, how about looking for Boughton 
and the bag? ” asked Larry. 

He did not mention Joshua Small. 

“If you think you can get Lomax to Cleveland 
alone I will stay here and organize a search for 
Boughton and the bag,” said the artist. “ I have an 
idea where I can find him.” 

“ Say,” put in Lomax suddenly, “ you’ll never find 
them unless you’re told.” 

“ Do you think so? ” 

“ I know it.” 

“ Well? ” 

“ You might be told for a consideration.” 

“I thought you said you knew nothing about this 
robbery, Lomax? ” 

“ I said I wasn’t a robber,” returned the rascal 
evasively. “ But I might be able to tell you where to 
look for the bag and Boughton if you would promise to 
let me go. It won’t do either of you a bit of good to 
have me arrested.” 

“ Then, you are willing to sell Boughton out?” 
asked Howard Bruin, with ill-concealed contempt for 
the man who had made the proposition. 

“ Yes, I am. He never treated me square from the 
start.” 


226 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ And you won’t tell us anything unless we promise 
to let you go. ” 

“ That’s it.” 

“ Then we will have to find out on our own hook,” 
broke in Larry. “ Don’t you make any deal with the 
rascal, Mr. Bruin.” 

“ I don’t intend to,” returned the artist decidedly. 
“ I was only trying to pump him.” 

“ Confound you both ! ” muttered Lomax. He was 
keenly disappointed at being unable to make his little 
plan work. “ Well, do your worst. I defy you to 
prove that I am guilty. You are the guilty man; your 
handkerchief proved it, and this boy helped you.” 

“ We’ll see,” said Howard Bruin quietly, but there 
was a peculiar gleam in his eyes, which did not escape 
Larry’s notice. 

Lomax, after this, pleaded again to be allowed to go, 
but neither Larry nor the artist would listen to him. 

Ten minutes later, with Lomax bound securely, 
hands and feet, the boy started on the drive to the 
Cleveland jail. 

“ Won’t they be surprised when I land the prisoner,” 
thought Larry, and he waved his hand to Howard 
Bruin for the last time, as a bend in the road shut out 
Carwell from view. 

For the first mile of the drive Lomax sat on a low 
box in the back of the wagon, without saying a word. 
Larry kept his eye on the man continually, resolved 


AN ASTONISHING STATEMENT 


227 


that the robber should not be allowed a single oppor- 
tunity to regain his liberty. 

“ See here, Larry, you’re dead wrong in this affair,” 
said Lomax at last, while they were on the loneliest 
bit of the road. “ You are making the mistake of your 
life in having me arrested.” 

His tone was so earnest that the boy was astonished. 
What change had come over the robber to cause him 
to act in this manner? 

“ Making a mistake, eh? ” he returned. “ Well, I’ll 
risk it, Lomax.” 

“ But, my boy, you don’t understand matters at all,” 
insisted Lomax with still more earnestness. “ It’s all 
well enough for you to try to clear yourself of this 
crime, but when you try to fasten it on me, you put 
your feet into it deeper than ever.” 

“ I don’t see how.” 

“ Well, you are, Larry. You don’t know what an 
awful mistake you are making.” 

And Lomax shook his head earnestly. 

“ I wouldn’t talk this way if I couldn’t see what’s 
ahead. I know more than you do of the future, be- 
cause I know much of the past. See ? ” 

Larry breathed hard. The last words of Lomax 
were something like a confession. He wondered what 
was coming next. 

“ Go on,” he said huskily. 

“ It’s my greatest desire to keep you from harm, 


228 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


my boy, really it is,” went on Lomax smoothly. “ And 
when I see you running straight into it, I think it my 
duty to cry halt. It will harm you to have me locked 
up and sent to prison.” 

“ I don’t see how. Look here,” went on Larry 
earnestly, “ if you have anything to say about my past, 
speak up. I know you and Boughton and Joshua Small 
are plotting against me somehow, but what’s in the 
wind is beyond me.” 

“ I’m not plotting against you, Larry — never did, 
upon my honor. I’ve done wrong, but I never did 
that.” 

“Well, what do you know of the past? Do you 
know who my parents were ? ” 

“ Indeed, my boy, I do.” , 

“ Are they alive ? ” 

Pete Lomax blinked his eyes and turned away his 
head. He appeared to be struggling with his emotions. 

“ Will you let me go if I tell you the truth, Larry? ” 
he asked. 

For a minute — aye, two minutes — a great struggle 
took place in Larry’s breast. How he wished to know 
all this man might have to tell! But then he slowly 
shook his head. 

“Ho, it wouldn’t be right, and I can’t do it,” he 
said. 

“ You can’t! Hot even when the whole future 
hangs on it ? ” 


AN ASTONISHING STATEMENT 


229 


“ Ho ! What’s right is right, and that’s all there is 
to it. If you won’t tell what you know, perhaps I can 
force Luke Boughton or Joshua Small to speak.” 

“ But, Larry, see here; you don’t want to send your 
own father to prison, do you ? ” asked Lomax brokenly. 

“ My — own — father — to prison? ” faltered the boy, 
turning deathly white all in an instant. 

“ That’s what I said. Think of it — your own father 
in prison, and by your work.” 

“ But — but I don’t understand. Who is my 
father? ” 

Lomax bent forward. 

“Look at me, Larry — I am your father l" 


CHAPTER XXIX 


LARRY SPEAKS HIS MIND 

“ You are my father? ” 

Larry uttered the words like one who has received 
a death sentence. That man his father — the man he 
was going to have locked up as a thief? 

“ Yes, my dear boy, I am your own father,” went on 
Lomax sadly. “ I reckon the revelation don’t please 
you much.” 

“ I — I — why didn’t you tell me of this before ? ” 
faltered the boy, who for the time being was utterly 
bewildered. “ Why didn’t you tell who you were when 
we first met ? ” 

“ I didn’t see as it would do any good. You were 
trying to lead a straightforward life, while I — well, I 
wasn’t doing just the right thing, and ” 

“ Indeed you were not doing the right thing! ” burst 
out Larry. “ You were doing the wrong thing en- 
tirely.” 

“ Don’t be too harsh on me, Larry. I was down on 
my luck, and Luke Boughton put me up to the job.” 

For the moment Larry was silent, and his eyes fell. 
Lomax looked at him keenly, as if to see how far his 
words had impressed the boy. 

230 


Larry speaks his mind 


231 


“ Don’t drive so fast/’ went on the man presently. 
“We don’t want to strike Cleveland just yet.” 

Larry slowed up, but this remark put him upon a 
new train of thoughts. Try his best, he could not 
bring himself to believe that this coarse man, bound 
hands and feet behind him, was his father. No, 
no, such a thing could not be ! Anything but 
that! 

“ You say Luke Boughton put you up to the job of 
robbing Mrs. Noxwell’s house? ” 

“ He did, Larry; I would never have gotten up such 
a scheme alone.” 

“ You two did the job alone? ” 

“ Why do you ask that? ” 

“ Never mind, I want to know.” 

“ Yes, we did it alone.” 

“ Then where does Joshua Small come in? ” 
j For the moment Pete Lomax seemed disconcerted, 

I and a frown wrinkled his repulsive face. 

“That was another matter, Larry; he had nothing 
to do with the robbery. He and Boughton have a 
scheme on hand that I know nothing of.” 

“ Well, what is this scheme on hand that you do 
know something of? ” rejoined the boy quickly. 

“ There ain’t none, Larry.” 

1 “ Yes, there is.” 

i The boy’s reply was so short and sharp that Pete 
; Lomax started. Evidently his declaration that he was 


232 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


Larry’s father had not produced the tremendous effect 
intended. 

“ Ton my word, Larry, you are mistaken.” 

“ No, I am not.” 

“ Yes, you are, my son.” 

“ Hold up, there ! ” cried Larry, turning and looking 
Lomax boldly in the face. “ Don’t you dare to call 
me your son, you contemptible scoundrel! ” 

Had a bomb exploded at Pete Lomax’s feet he would 
not have been more thoroughly astonished. He started 
back, and his face turned a sickly green. 

“ What — wha ” he gasped. 

“ I say, don’t you dare to call me your son ! ” re- 
peated the boy hotly. “ I don’t believe I am your 
son, so there! ” 

“ But you are, and I can prove it! ” snapped Pete 
Lomax. “ I can prove it, understand? ” 

“I don’t believe it; but if I am your son, I won’t 
own you for a father ” 

“ You’ll have to.” 

“ We’ll see about that.” 

“ I’ll tell everybody.” 

Larry winced. He at once thought of kind Mrs. 
Kennington, and wondered what that lady would say 
to the news. It was a cruel prospect for the boy. 

“ I will tell everybody,” repeated Pete Lomax. 
“ They’ll think you a fine one to bring your own father 
to jail.” 


LARRY SPEAKS HIS MIND 


233 


Larry caught at the last words and he stopped the 
horse and swung around squarely. 

“ That is your little game, Pete Lomax, and you 
cannot make me believe different. You want to work 
on my feelings, so that I won’t turn you over to the 
Cleveland authorities. That game won’t work. You 
are going to jail just as fast as this horse can take you. 
Get up, there ! ” 

Larry tapped the horse with the whip as he uttered 
the last words, and the animal hounded on as fast as 
ever. The boy was breathing hard, and his eyes flashed 
and blinked in a manner that showed that he was now 
aroused to the realization of the true state of affairs. 

“Hold on! ” yelled Pete Lomax, in alarm. “Hold 
on, just a minute! ” 

“Hot a second,” returned the boy. “ Get down on 
your seat! ” 

“ But I want to ” 

“ Shut up! I know what I am doing. We can talk 
in jail, if you want to talk so much.” 

Pete Lomax grated his teeth in rage, and uttered 
frightful things under his breath. His little plan for 
gaining freedom had failed utterly. 

He glanced around to see where they were. The 
wagon was still traveling the country road, but the 
outskirts of Cleveland were not far off. In ten minutes 
more it would be too late to effect an escape. 

He glanced at Larry. The boy was busy urging the 


284 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


horse on. With rapid, but silent, movements, Lomax 
began to tug at the ropes which bound him. 

Those around his wrists held, but at last, just as the 
first house in Cleveland appeared around a bend, he 
managed to kick off the ropes which held his legs. 

Then rising to his feet, he made a flying leap from 
the rapidly moving wagon. 

He landed on a soft patch of ground and managed, 
although not without considerable exertion, to keep 
his feet. 

Then he started to run back, just as Larry made the 
discovery that his prisoner was endeavoring to escape. 

“ Hi! Stop! ” cried the boy. “ Whoa! whoa! ” 

He brought his horse to a standstill, and turned 
him about. Seeing that he would be pursued if he 
kept to the road, Pete Lomax made a dash for the 
open field on the right. 

Larry at once sprang down and made after him. 

“Stop! You cannot get away!” cried the boy. 
“ Stop, I say! ” 

“ Stop yourself ! ” howled Pete Lomax. “ If you 
come any nearer Pll shoot you! ” 

“ You can’t fool me,” returned Larry. “ Stop, I 
say.” 

He kept on after the fugitive, and at the end of the 
field, which was several hundred feet from the road, 
he was close behind Lomax. Putting out his foot he 
tripped up the fellow. 


LARRY SPEAKS HIS MIND 


235 


“ You — you ” panted the robber. 

He got no further, for without taking the precaution 
to come down easily, Larry sat on the fellow’s chest 
with a suddenness which deprived Lomax of every 
particle of his wind. 

Then he slid downward until he rested on the man’s 
lower limbs. This prevented Lomax from doing any 
kicking. 

“ Now you’ll understand that trying to escape is 
sheer foolishness,” said the boy coolly. “ You are my 
prisoner, and you are going to the Cleveland jail.” 


CHAPTER XXX 


THE SEARCH FOR JOSHUA SMALL 

While Larry was deliberating as to what was best 
to do, he saw a man come from the near-by farm house 
and run toward him. The man carried a heavy club, 
and was evidently excited. 

“ What’s the row here ? ” he yelled, as he came 
nearer. 

“ Come and help me tie this man up again,” replied 
Larry. “ He’s just got away from me.” 

“ Got away from you? ” 

“ Yes.” 

“ Who are you, and who is he? ” 

“ Never mind about me. This man is a robber, and 
I am trying to get him to the Cleveland jail.” 

“ Gee shoo! A robber, did you say? ” 

“ He isn’t telling the truth,” put in Lomax. “ He’s 
a thief himself.” 

“ Now you shut up! ” cried Larry angrily. “ If you 
say such a thing again I’ll hit you, even when your 
hands are tied. I don’t propose to stand your manners 
any longer.” 

“ I see his arms are tied,” said the farmer timidly 
236 


THE SEARCH FOR JOSHUA SMALL 237 

“ Yes, and so were his legs. The rope is in my 
wagon out there. Will you please get it? ” 

The farmer hesitated a moment and then started off 
on a run. He soon returned with the rope. 

“ Who did he rob? ” he asked. 

“ He is one of the men that robbed Mrs. Hoxwell’s 
house.” 

“ Gee shoo! You don’t say! Did you get the stuff 
back? ” 

“ Hot yet. The other man has that, and he has not 
yet been captured.” 

u And you ain’t made no mistake about this chap? ” 

u Come along with me to Cleveland and see if I’ve 
made any mistake,” returned Larry briefly. 

To this the farmer at once consented. The two 
bound Pete Lomax tighter than he had been bound be- 
fore, and the farmer sat guard over him in the back 
of the wagon, while Larry drove into the town and up 
to the jail. 

A curious crowd at once collected, and they entirely 
filled Justice Raum’s office when Pete Lomax was re- 
lieved from his bonds and marched inside. 

“ Who is this?” demanded the justice, as he gazed 
in astonishment at Larry. 

“ One of the robbers, your honor,” returned the boy 
modestly, although for some reason he had never felt 
so happy as at this moment. 

Justice Raum sprang to his feet. 


238 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ What? ” he cried in amazement. 

“ One of the men who robbed Mrs. Hoxwell’s house, 
sir.” 

“ You are sure?” 

“ Positive, sir.” 

“ Well, well! I will hear your story. Silence in the 
court room.” 

The command was instantly obeyed, and one could 
have heard a pin drop as Larry related his somewhat 
long story to the police justice. 

Pete Lomax interrupted him a great number of 
times, but all to no purpose. Larry’s straightforward 
way had gained for him many friends, and although 
the justice did not consider it right that he should say 
so in public, he believed every word that the plucky 
boy uttered. 

“ And you say that Mr. Bruin is after his accom- 
plice and the booty? ” questioned Justice Baum, at 
length. 

“ Yes, your honor. I have every reason to believe 
that he will find his man before to-morrow, too.” 

“ He will never find Boughton,” broke in Pete Lo- 
max, and then he stopped suddenly, in deep disgust. 

“ Why won’t he find Boughton? ” asked the justice 
quickly. 

“ I mean I don’t believe he’ll find any such man,” 
stammered Lomax. “ I — I don’t know him at all.” 

“ So it would seem,” returned J ustice Baum dryly. 


THE SEARCH FOR JOSHUA SMALL 


239 


“ I say I don’t ! That boy’s story is a tissue of false- 
hoods! ” stormed Lomax, trying to appear dramatic. 
“ He is a — a base fabricator. He stole that stuff — he 
and Howard Bruin, and ” 

“ You will have a regular hearing in the morning,” 
broke in Justice Baum. “ Officer, take him to jail.” 

“ Going to lock me up? ” 

“ Yes.” 

“ But it’s an outrage, sir, and I ” 

“ Silence! You will have a hearing in the morning, 
and that’s enough.” 

Justice Baum would hear no more, and a second 
later Pete Lomax was marched to the corridor of the 
jail and then thrust into the very cell Larry had occu- 
pied! 

In this manner had the wheel of fortune turned. 

Strange to say, Pete Lomax had said nothing more 
about being Larry’s father. Nevertheless the boy was 
worried over the matter, thinking that the rogue would 
reserve this bit of so-styled revelation until the morn- 
ing. 

“ And when he is cornered, he may do his best to im- 
plicate me, anyway! ” thought the boy bitterly. “ He 
is a deep rascal, and a bad one.” 

As soon as the scene at the justice’s office was over, 
Larry went to a nearby restaurant and got a lunch, and 
then secured some feed and water for his horse. A 
short while later he started on the return for Carwell, 


240 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


resolved that no time should be lost in tracing the 
whereabouts of Luke Boughton and Joshua Small. 

When Larry arrived at Carwell he looked in vain for 
Howard Bruin. Hot a trace of the artist was to be 
found anywhere. 

The excitement attending the strike had subsided 
for the day, and a few of the places of business were 
again open. Larry found a livery stable, and here put 
up the horse and wagon, to be called for later. 

Once on the street again, the boy was undecided 
which way to turn next. His friend might be close at 
hand, or he might be miles away, and the same might 
be said of Luke Boughton and Joshua Small. 

“ IT1 go on a quiet search through Carwell first,” 
Larry thought. “ I may come across some trace of one 
or the other of them.” 

He proceeded with great caution, for he did not wish 
to run afoul of any more of the car-shop strikers. He 
had had enough trouble with these people, and he 
wished to attend strictly to his own business. 

Up one street and down another the boy went, peer- 
ing into every alley and open doorway, and around 
the corners of houses and barns and hayricks. Once 
or twice he encountered rough-looking men, but got 
out of the way before they could accost him. 

At length he found himself near the upper end of 
the village, where several roads led to the summer 
hotels up on the mountains back of Carwell. 


THE SEARCH FOR JOSHUA SMALL 241 

Here he sat down on a large rock to think matters 
over, and ascertain, if possible, what would be the next 
move to make. 

“ It looks as if all hands had quitted Carwell,” he 
said to himself. u Although they may be in one of the 
houses I just passed. My! how I wish I could get on 
the track of Joshua Small and run him down! I 
imagine an interview with him might reveal a good 
deal” 

But Joshua Small had vanished like the rest, and it 
seemed of no avail to look for any of the missing 
parties. 

After resting on the rock for a while, Larry deter- 
mined to make his way to the nearest of the summer 
hotels, which he knew was scarcely half a mile away. 

He covered the distance in a few minutes, and with- 
out any of the hesitation which would have been nat- 
ural to a country boy, he boldly entered the open hall- 
way and stepped up to the clerk’s desk. 

“ May I look at your register, please ? ” he asked. 

“ Certainly. Here you are,” and the clerk shoved 
the big book toward him. 

Eagerly Larry looked over the list of arrivals for the 
past few days. The name of Joshua Small did not ap- 
pear. 

He was about to turn away, somewhat disappointed, 
when something peculiar about the signatures on the 
open page before him attracted his attention. 


242 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


There was the name of Samuel Brown written in a 
hand that he thought he recognized. He scrutinized it 
still closer, and saw that the name Samuel was written 
over the letters “ Jos.” 

“ I’ve found him,” thought Larry, much pleased 
over his discovery. “ He was going to write Joshua 
Small in the register, and then changed his mind and 
used the name Samuel Brown. He evidently wants 
to keep his identity a secret. That alone looks bad for 
him.” 

“ Can you find what you wish? ” asked the clerk, who 
had been watching him. 

“ Yes, sir. Is Mr. Samuel Brown in? ” 

“ Front!” called the clerk, and a colored bell-boy 
came up. “ Go to Ho. 46 and see if Mr. Brown is in. 
What name? ” 

“ Oh, never mind my name. I just want to know if 
he is in, that’s all.” 

The clerk stared at Larry, but the boy’s assurance 
made him imagine it was all right, and he nodded to the 
bell-boy, who at once disappeared up the broad and 
richly carpeted stairs. 

The bell-boy was gone several minutes. 

“ Mr. Brown wishes you to send up your name,” he 
said, upon his return. 

“ I will write him a note,” said Larry. “ Will 
you kindly allow me a bit of paper and an envel- 
ope?” 


THE SEARCH FOR JOSHUA SMALL 


243 


“ See here, what kind of a game is this,” demanded 
the clerk. 

“ It’s a game to win,” replied Larry, with a peculiar 
laugh. “ Will you kindly supply me? ” 

“ Certainly, but it’s mighty mysterious. Isn’t every- 
thing all right? ” 

“ Hardly,” and with this single word, Larry hastily 
scribbled the following note on the letter-head the 
clerk had given him: 

“ Mr. Small: Will you see me, or shall I send up a 
policeman? I mean business, and am not to be trifled 
with. Larry Curly.” 

This note he placed in an envelope, which he sealed 
and addressed to Samuel Brown, and then gave it to 
the bell-boy to deliver. 

As the boy passed up the stairs, Larry followed him. 
Fortunately the clerk behind the desk did not see him, 
being at that moment interested in a new lot of ar- 
rivals at the piazza steps. 

Larry reached the head of the second flight of 
stairs just in time to see the bell-boy disappear into a 
nearby room. He waited for several minutes, and 
then approached the door of the room. 

“ Tell the boy that I — I will see him in about five 
minutes,” he heard in the well-known voice of Joshua 
Small. “ Tell him I will see him then, sure.” 


244 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ Yes, sail.” 

The bell-boy opened the door and attempted to step 
out. As he did so, Larry peered into the room and saw 
Joshua Small reach for his hat and a bag, both of which 
rested on a nearby chair. 

“ It’s all right,” said Larry, and pushing the bell- 
boy aside, he entered the room, and confronted his 
former employer. 

“ Larry! ” burst from Joshua Small’s lips. 

“ Yes, Mr. — er — B — rown,” returned the boy coolly. 
“ You evidently didn’t expect to see me so soon. Sup- 
posing I ” 

“Hush!” whispered Joshua Small, a frightened 
look on his face. “ You can go; it’s — it’s all right,” he 
went on, to the bell-boy. 

“ Yes, it’s all right,” put in Larry and he closed and 
locked the door and placed the key in his pocket. 
“ You didn’t expect to see me quite so soon, did you? ” 

“ What is this about a policeman? ” almost chattered 
Joshua Small, for he was a thorough coward at heart. 

“ You ought to know, Joshua Small. You know 
more about some things than I do, even though I just 
landed Pete Lomax in the Cleveland jail.” 

“ Lomax in jail? ” 

“ Exactly; and your other friend, Luke Boughton, 
will be there before long, too.” 

“ He is not my friend. I have nothing to do with 
him or with this Lomax,” whined the rich farmer. 


'THE SEARCH FOR JOSHUA SMALL 245 

“ I — — it is all a mistake, Larry, all a mistake, my 
dear boy.” 

u That’s just what Lomax said, but he’ll go to prison, 
nevertheless,” responded Larry coldly. 

His object was to frighten the craven heart before 
him as much as possible. 

“ You don’t mean to say you will — will try to send 
me to prison? ” and Joshua Small’s face grew as white 
as the wall, while he trembled in every limb. 

“ W ell, that depends. Did you have anything to do 
with the Noxwell robbery? ” 

“ Ho! ” fairly shouted the old farmer. “ Never! ” 

“ Then, if you are willing to tell me all about this 
secret of my past life, I may give you a chance to go 
clear. If not, you’ll take your chances with the others 
in the Cleveland jail.” 

These direct words caused Joshua Small to tremble 
once more from head to foot. A cold sweat sprang 
out on his forehead, which he wiped away with his red 
bandanna, and then he sank on a chair. 

u How do you know I know anything of your past? ” 
he faltered. 

“ I overheard enough of your talk and the talk of 
Lomax and Boughton to assure me of that. I want to 
know where all this money comes in, and who and what 
I am.” 

“ I don’t know all, but I know something,” returned 
Joshua Small slowly. “ If I make a clean breast of 


246 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


it, will you see to it that I am not prosecuted by — by 
— any one ? ” 

“ That will depend on how you act. For the sake 
of Mrs. Small, who was at times quite kind to me 
when I worked on the farm, I am willing to be easy on 
you, if you show a disposition to square matters and 
turn over a new leaf.” 

“ I wasn’t to blame,” whined J oshua Small, rubbing 
his bony hands together nervously. “ Boughton came 
to me and offered me so much money it turned my 
head. He said you wasn’t no common stock, and that 
there was big wealth coming to you — land and stock 
and so — and so — he and that Lomax turned my head. 
I would never have followed you up otherwise.” 

“ And you will tell me all you know now? ” asked 
Larry impatiently. 

“ Yes, I will; I’ll tell you the whole story from be- 
ginning to end,” replied Joshua Small. 


CHAPTER XXXI 


A PLEASING REVELATION 

Larry was in a fever of excitement over what his 
former employer might have to say. He fully under- 
stood that the assertion that there was money coming 
to him was true. Had it not been so, Lomax and 
Boughton would never have gone to the trouble of 
sending for Joshua Small to come and help them work 
up their plot to rob the boy of his inheritance. 

“ It’s rather a long story, and I don’t know if I can 
tell you it straight, but I’ll try,” said Joshua Small, 
after breathing hard for a moment. “ You know how 
them hospital folks and some charity institution com- 
missioners turned you over to me to work on the 
farm? ” 

“ Yes.” 

“ Well, shortly after that this man Lomax turned 
up, and he came to me half a dozen times, but not 
until the very last did he tell me anything of the real 
object of his visit, which was to prove if you was the 
boy from the hospital and to find out all the hospital 
folks had had to say about you.” 

“ You told him what you knew? ” 

247 


248 


LARKY THE WANDERER 


“ I told him some. You see, I — I — -well, you was 
a good hand, and I didn’t want to lose you,” faltered 
Joshua Small. “ Besides, I didn’t like the looks of the 
man.” 

“ But you lost me, anyway,” put in Larry, with 
something of the old dry laugh in his tones. 

“ Yes, that’s so,” resumed Joshua Small. “ I did, 
Larry, and I was mighty sorry. But we’ll let that 
pass.” 

“ Yes, let that pass, and tell me what you know,” 
added the boy quickly. 

“ Well, Lomax was tearing mad when he found that 
you had run away. He accused me first of sending 
you off and trying to make some money on my own 
account. That was the first I knew that there was 
money in the affair.” 

“ And who did he claim I was? ” 

“ He wouldn’t say that, but he wanted me to stand 
by and prove that you were the boy found in the base- 
ment of that house on Cherry Street, in Hew York. 
Well, after awhile he left, and I didn’t hear any more 
of him until a few days ago. Then he wanted me to 
come out here and identify you if I could. You see, 
he was afraid he might be making some mistake, not 
knowing you as well as I did.” 

“ And you identified me, of course ? ” 

“ Yes. Then Lomax introduced Boughton to me, 
and Boughton did a lot of talking, and finally offered 


A PLEASING REVELATION 


249 


me a lot of money if I would go with them. They said 
you belonged to a rich family and had been stolen away 
during your childhood, and that by restoring you to 
your folks we could make ourselves rich. But it was 
to take cash to do the work, and I must advance some, 
for which they would give as security a lot of 
silver plate which had belonged to Lomax’s grand- 
father ” 

“The plate that was stolen from Mrs. Hoxwell?” 
burst in Larry. 

“ More than likely, Larry. I was a fool to listen to 
’em, I know I was. Well, Boughton and Lomax acted 
so strange, and when you come on the scene I was all 
mixed up. I kinder thought the whole thing was a 
fizzle and that they would get my money and run away, 
but I’ve got it here yet, although Boughton is coming 
to see me to-day.” 

“ To-day? ” 

“Yes; but I reckon I won’t make the deal now,” 
and Joshua Small pursed up his thin lips. 

“ Look here ! ” cried the boy. “ If you will help 
me to capture Luke Boughton and obtain from him a 
full confession, I will do all I can to clear you of this 
miserable business.” 

“ Will you? ” 

“ I will.” 

“ Then it’s a whack, Larry, and I’ll make him speak 
up or choke the words out of him.” 


250 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


At that moment a bell-boy came to the door of the 
room. 

“ A gentleman below wishes Mr. Brown to come 
down. Gentleman by the name of Bell.” 

“ That’s him,” said Joshua Small to Larry. “ He 
told me he wouldn’t come up, but would take me to 
where he had the plate and his papers.” 

“ Then go with him, and I will follow,” returned 
Larry. “ Pretend to come to terms with him so that 
he shows his hand, as the saying is.” 

“ All right, Larry, if you say so.” 

Joshua Small followed the bell-boy down, and a 
second later Larry left the room also. 

Looking down the opening of the circular staircase, 
the boy saw the old farmer shake hands with Luke 
Boughton, and then the two passed out of the hotel. 

Larry was not far behind, and keeping out of sight 
behind some shrubbery, he saw the pair make their 
way rapidly toward the rocky district leading to the 
river. 

Larry prepared to follow, when suddenly a hand 
was placed on his shoulder and he found himself con- 
fronted by Howard Bruin and Officer Angus. 

“ Larry, what brought you here ? ” cried the artist. 
“ Where is Pete Lomax? ” 

“ In the Cleveland jail,” answered the boy. “ I am 
following Luke Boughton and Joshua Small.” 

“They are here, then, eh?” put in Officer Angus. 


A PLEASING REVELATION 


251 


u We thought we traced that Boughton to the vicin- 
ity ” 

“ Come with me,” said Larry. “ I will tell you what 
is up.” 

And as the three proceeded along the rocks he told 
his story to his friend and the officer, who had joined 
Howard Bruin in the search but a short hour before. 

“ Well, Larry, this mystery concerning your identity 
must be cleared up, that’s certain,” said the artist. 
“ If these men hold it they must be forced to tell what 
they know.” 

A few minutes later they saw Luke Boughton lead 
Joshua Small into a secluded spot under a series of 
overhanging rocks. 

They came close to the place, and by listening at- 
tentively overheard every word that was being spoken. 

“ I need a thousand dollars,” Boughton was saying, 
“ and I’ve got the plate here in a bag to give you as 
security for the money.” 

“ But what’s this secret about the boy? ” questioned 
Joshua Small. 

“ That has nothing to do with this matter. I am 
speaking about the silver plate. Isn’t that security 
enough? ” 

u I ain’t making any deal until I know the whole 
truth about that boy,” returned the old farmer bluntly, 
and it was evident that the matter had been talked over 
on the way to the place. 


252 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ It won’t do you any good,” insisted Boughton. 

“ Maybe not; but can’t you trust me if I’m to trust 
you? ” 

“ Well, it’s just here, but you mustn’t breathe it to 
a soul. That boy’s mother is living and rich. She 
thinks he is dead — that he died when he was a young- 
ster. Now, I want to restore her son to her and make 
some money out of it. But to work the deal will take 
money, because I’ve got to work slowly, and maybe I’ll 
have to shift around a good bit, so as to avoid getting 
into trouble, see ? ” 

“ You are going to make her pay before you restore 
her son, eh?” 

“ That’s it, Mr. Small. Great scheme, eh? ” 

“ Yes. Who is the lady? ” 

“ Oh, that’s the secret.” 

“And Larry Curly don’t suspect anything?” 

“No; why should he? But it will be a great thing 
for him in the end, so he needn’t kick, and if I ” 

Luke Boughton did not finish. In trying to shift his 
position Officer Angus had stepped upon a loose stone 
and fell headlong in plain sight of the robber. 

“ Hi! what’s this? ” cried Boughton, starting back in 
alarm. 

“ It means that your game is up,” called out Howard 
Bruin, as he stepped into view, followed by Larry. 
“ We have tracked you down at last, Boughton.” 

“ Yes,” put in Angus, scrambling to his feet and 


A PLEASING REVELATION 


253 


drawing his pistol. “ Surrender, you villain, in the 
name of the law of this State and township of Cleve- 
land! ” 

And the district officer looked as fierce as possible. 

Luke Boughton attempted to retreat, but before he 
had taken two steps Larry was upon him and had him 
fast. 

“ You shall not escape! ” cried the boy. “ The other 
man is all right. Watch this one.” 

“ What — what ” began Boughton. Then he 

looked at J oshua Small, and his face grew dark. “ Did 
you lead me into this trap ? ” 

“ I reckon I did,” returned the old farmer. “ I ain’t 
for going into any dishonest game with you. Hear 
that, officer?” he added to Angus. 

“ Yes, sir.” 

Officer Angus quickly produced a pair of handcuffs 
and placed them upon Luke Boughton’s wrists. 

A search for the stolen goods was made, and they 
were found in the original bag, hidden in a nearby 
nook. 

The bag was opened, and among the plate and other 
stuff taken Officer Angus brought to light the legal 
papers Mrs. Hoxwell had insisted that Howard Bruin 
had taken. 

“ There, that clears me,” muttered the artist. 
“ How, I will take double pleasure in defeating her in 
the lawsuit.” 


254 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


In the meantime Larry had turned to Luke Bough- 
ton. 

“Boughton, will you clear up this mystery for me 
concerning myself ?” he asked anxiously. 

“ Ho, I won’t,” snapped the robber. “ You are the 
one who had me arrested, and now you can go on and 
be a nobody for the rest of your life.” 


CHAPTEK XXXII 


NO LONGER A NOBODY CONCLUSION 

“ You will not say a word? ” gasped the boy. 

“No, I won’t. You are fixed now to be nothing but 
a tramp all the rest of your life.” 

“ I won’t be a tramp, but — but ” 

“ This is a shame ! ” burst out Howard Bruin. “ If 
you have one spark of manhood in your veins, speak 
up and tell the boy who he is.” 

Luke Boughton shrugged his shoulders. 

“ I will, on one condition.” 

“ What is that ? ” 

“ Give me my liberty.” 

“ Oh, we can’t do that!” put in Officer Angus 
hastily. “ Against the law — quite against the law — 
and a criminal offense.” 

“ Then I haven’t a word to say.” 

“Why don’t you search him?” suggested Joshua 
Small rather timidly. “He allers carried around a 
lot of papers ” 

“Shut up!” fairly shrieked Luke Boughton. 
“Haven’t you caused me trouble enough already? I 
haven’t anything of value.” 

255 


256 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ That’s enough ! ” broke in Howard Bruin. “ Stand 
still till I see what jour pockets contain.” 

“I won’t! Let me go — do you hear? — let me 
go!” 

Luke Boughton struggled to break away, but while 
Officer Angus and Larry held him, the artist went 
through first one pocket and then another. 

Several papers and opened letters were brought to 
light. Then came a new-looking envelope, which was 
sealed. 

The artist looked at the address on the envelope and 
gave a violent start. 

“ Impossible ! ” he muttered, and then he looked at 
Larry strangely. “ It can’t be so! ” 

“ What is it ? ” questioned the boy eagerly. 

“ I — I — wait a minute, Larry — I don’t want to dis- 
appoint you, but — I — I ” 

Howard Bruin broke off to glance at several of the 
papers and then shoved everything that had been taken 
from Luke Boughton into his pocket. “ Come with 
me, my boy.” 

“ Come with you? ” 

“ Yes, at once.” 

“ But where are you going? ” 

“ Never mind, come on. Oh, I hope it is true! ” 

“ See here ! ” burst in Officer Angus. “ Going to 
leave me alone with this man? ” 

“ Small can help you watch him, and we’ll send down 


NO LONGER A NOBODY CONCLUSION 


257 


help from the hotel. Larry and I must go. Come, 
Larry.” 

Impelled by the artist’s earnestness, the boy fol- 
lowed his friend back to the hotel, where they left word 
concerning the capture of the second robber. Then 
a wagon was procured to take Howard Bruin and 
Larry to Carwell. 

At the latter place they procured the artist’s turnout, 
and then started on the road to Cleveland. 

Howard Bruin would answer no questions. 

“ Prepare yourself for a great surprise, Larry,” was 
all he said. “ It must be true. Your features prove 
it.” 

“ Prove what ? ” 

“ Wait and see.” 

To Larry’s surprise, when the turnout reached the 
Kennington mansion, Howard Bruin drove the horse 
through the open gate and up to the front piazza. 

“ We will get out and call on Mrs. Kennington for a 
moment,” he said. “ I must ask her some questions.” 

In a moment more the two stood in the kind lady’s 
presence. The artist seemed strangely agitated, and 
Larry’s heart was fairly jumping with excitement. 
What had this good lady to do with his future ? 

“ Mrs. Kennington,” began Howard Bruin, “ we 
have caught the two robbers who stole Mrs. Koxwell’s 
silver plate and papers, and the booty has been recov- 
ered.” 


258 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“ I am very glad to hear it,” replied the lady with a 
bright smile. “ That clears you and our young friend 
here.” 

And she placed an affectionate hand upon Larry’s 
shoulder. 

“ It does, and I can assure you that I am greatly re- 
lieved.” 

“ And so am I,” put in Larry. “ And I shall never 
forget your kindness in going my bail.” 

“ One of the robbers was a man named Luke Bough- 
ton,” went on the artist. “ He had on his person a 
number of papers, some of which may interest you.” 

“ Me ? ” cried Mrs. Kennington, and Larry’s heart 
seemed fairly to stand still. 

“ Yes. By one of the papers I see that he was 
married to a woman by the name of Matilda Rin- 
sel ” 

“ My former nurse ! ” 

“ I thought it might be. In these papers mention 
is made of the children which were lost.” 

“ Children? ” 

“ Yes.” 

“ But only one child was lost — Gregory. The others 
died, poor dears! ” and Mrs. Kennington wiped a tear 
from her cheek at the sad memory. 

“ He speaks of two children, and tells of how they 
became separated and how the Italians in Brooklyn 
got possession of the older of the two.” 


NO LONGER A NOBODY CONCLUSION 


259 


“And what became of the other?” cried the lady 
eagerly. “ Tell me, quick! Matilda said it died and 
was buried in a pauper’s grave on account of the dis- 
ease — and we could not recover the body! ” 

“ The paper does not state what became of the 
younger boy. Did you ever suspect that Matilda 
Rinsel was married? ” 

“No; she was not a woman to be trusted, and it 
was only by the Captain’s kindness that we gave her 
the place as a nurse. He had known her father at the 
port of Bremen, in Germany.” 

“ She was evidently in some scheme against you 
when death cut that scheme short. But this is not all. 
Here is a letter addressed to you, found in Luke Bough- 
ton’s pocket.” 

And he handed the letter over. 

Mrs. Kennington tore open the epistle and perused 
it carefully. 

“ He says my boy is alive and not far off! ” cried 
the woman. “ He says that for ten thousand dollars 
he will restore my lost son to me ! ” 

Howard Bruin looked at the woman and then looked 
at Larry. How very much the two resembled each 
other! 

“ You will not have to pay him any money, Mrs. 
Kennington, for, unless I am very much mistaken, 
Larry here is that missing son.” 

“ Larry? ” 


260 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


“Me?” almost shouted the boy. “Me Mrs. Ken- 
nington’s son? ” 

“ Yes, Larry. Don’t you see it all, how Luke Bough- 
ton wished to get Joshua Small to identify you as the 
boy from the hospital — the one found in the basement 
in Cherry Street, New York? Well, another paper 
states that the two children were left in Cherry Street 
with an old woman called Mother Welsh, and it was 
from this place that Gregory was stolen by the Italians. 
You were left behind ” 

“Yes! yes! it must be!” cried Mrs. Kennington. 
“ He must be my son ! I feel it in my heart ! That is 
what drew me to him from the start! Oh, Larry, my 
boy, my boy! ” 

She rushed over and caught him to her breast, and 
from that instant the boy felt that the secret of his 
life was revealed. 

But he could not realize it in full at first. All the 
papers and letters taken from Luke Boughton had to 
be gone over carefully, and while this was being done 
Gregory came in and had to be told the wonderful 
news. He wrung Larry’s hand as it had never been 
wrung before, and the two became then and there the 
closest of brothers. 

“ It is all true,” said Mrs. Kennington at last. 
“ Larry, are you not glad? ” 

“ Glad? ” repeated the boy, with just a touch of his 
old-time dryness — Mrs. Kennington said afterward that 


NO LONGER A NOBODY — CONCLUSION 


261 


he took this from his father. “ Well, I don’t know. 
If I’m glad, why in creation do I feel so much like 
crying? ” 

And he suddenly hurst into tears, the first he ever 
remembered shedding. They were tears of joy, that 
came from the very bottom of his stout young heart. 

A couple of hours later all left the mansion and 
drove to Cleveland. They went straight to the jail and 
held long interviews with Lomax and Boughton. 

Lomax was at first very sullen, and when Gregory 
Kennington went to him he threatened that young man 
with exposure. 

“ If I am to go to prison, I’ll expose you,” he said. 
“ You know I have the whip hand over you.” 

“ That is true, Lomax, but exposing me will do you 
no good.” 

“ Never mind, I’ll expose you. The world shall 
know that you are a forger.” 

“ What’s this? ” cried Howard Bruin. “ Gregory a 
forger?” He had entered just in time to hear the 
latter words. 

Gregory hung his head. 

“ I suppose they would call me such,” faltered the 
young man, “ but ” 

At this juncture Justice Raum appeared. 

“We have just made an important discovery,” he 
said. “ This man Lomax is a clever forger from Phila- 
delphia, known as Penman Pete. He pretends to be 


262 


LARRY THE WANDERER 


unable to write even fairly well, but he is a skillful 
penman and works his schemes everywhere.” 

“ What schemes?” cried Gregory eagerly. 

“ He drugs men, and when they recover tries 
to make them believe that they have committed for- 
geries, which in reality he has committed. It is an old 
same, but wonderfully effective.” 

“ He drugged me! ” fairly shouted Gregory. " You 
rascal! I will make you confess, or I will ” 

He sprang at Lomax and bore him backward. The 
robber grew greatly scared and cried for help. 

“ Will you confess? ” 

“ Yes! yes! I might as well. They have found me 
out. Let up on me.” 

The others now sprang forward, and the two were 
separated. But Pete Lomax was now thoroughly 
broken down, and later on he confessed everything. He 
had made Gregory think himself the forger of a check 
for one hundred dollars, the money being drawn from 
Mrs. Kennington’s account. 

In the meanwhile Mrs. Kennington and Larry were 
talking to Luke Boughton. This man was completely 
astonished when he learned that they had discovered 
his secret. He was forced to confess that Larry was 
Mrs. Kennington’s son, but would not go into the de- 
tails of his marriage with Matilda Rinsel, or of the 
plot they laid to steal the two children. 

A few days later Lomax and Boughton were tried 


NO LONGER A NOBODY — CONCLUSION 263 

and sentenced to several years in the State prison. 
Joshua Small was not prosecuted, and he returned to 
his farm a sadder, but wiser man. 

Several months after this the great lawsuit between 
Mrs. Hoxwell and Howard Bruin was tried. The 
verdict was in favor of the artist, and the arrogant 
and proud woman was compelled to pay over a sum 
that made a most alarming hole in her wealth. She 
was so dismayed over her defeat that shortly after this 
she sold out and left the vicinity of Eagle Lake, and 
that was the last our friends saw of her or her daugh- 
ter. 

But now we must bring our narrative to a close. 
Several years have flitted by. Larry is now at college 
and expects some day to become a lawyer. Gregory 
has turned over a new leaf and taken up the profession 
of a doctor. Howard Bruin still works with pen and 
pencil, and is fast becoming famous. He is a constant 
visitor at the Kennington mansion, where the lady of 
the house is ever ready to give him a warm welcome. 

Mrs. Kennington is very happy; happy to think that 
Gregory is doing so well, and doubly happy to think 
that Heaven has given her such a bright and manly 
son as the boy who was once known as “ Larry the 
Wanderer.” 


THE END 




DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF BOOKS 


BY 

EDWARD STRATEMEYER 


One of the most skilful story-tellers for the young we have 
here in America. — Chicago Times-Herald. 

Lee & Shepard have captured another generation of boy readers. 
They held the last by “ Oliver Optic,” and find in Edward Stratemeyer 
a worthy successor. — The Courier , Boston . 

Has achieved a fine reputation as a writer of boys’ stories. — The 
Herald , Los Angeles , Cal. 

All the boys know Mr. Stratemeyer ’s stories, which are none the 
less thrilling for giving a considerable knowledge of geography and 
history. — Christian Work, New York . 


Lee and Shepard Publishers 


202 Devonshire Street 
BOSTON 


Great American Industries Series 

By EDWARD STRATEMEYER 


VOLUME ONE 

TWO YOUNG LUMBERMEN 

Or From Maine to Oregon for Fortune 

320 pages Cloth Illustrated Price $1.00 net 

A SPLENDID new story, undoubt- 
edly the best Mr. Stratemeyer has 
yet penned. It covers the whole of the 
great lumber industry of our country, 
the scene shifting from Maine to Mich- 
igan and the Great Lakes, and then to 
the Columbia and the Great Northwest. 

The heroes are two sturdy youths who 
have been brought up among the lum- 
bermen of their native State, and who 
strike out in an honest endeavor to bet- 
ter their condition. As mill hands, 
fellers, log drivers, and general camp 
workers they have a variety of adventures, absorbing in 
the extreme. An ideal volume for the library of every 
wide-awake American who wishes to know what our 
great lumber industry is to-day. 

Boys are acquiring the Stratemeyer habit. — Post , Chicago . 

Mr. Stratemeyer’s books are not only entertaining but instructive — . 
Daily Press , Portland , Me. 

He knows how to attract and hold boy readers. — Evening Stand- 
ard , New Bedford , Mass. 

The demands of boy readers are peculiar, and the author who can sat- 
isfy them, not once or twice, but uniformly, must possess rare ability in 
an extremely difficult field. Such an author is Edward Stratemeyer. — 
Sunday News , Newark , N.J. 



PAN-AMERICAN SERIES 

By EDWARD STRATEMEYER 


VOLUME ONE 

LOST ON THE ORINOCO 

Or American Boys in Venezuela 

12mo Cloth Illustrated Price $1.25 

T HIS volume tells of five American youths, who, with 
their tutor, sail from New York to La Guayra, 
touching at Cura5ao on the way. They visit Caracas, the 
capital, Macuto, the fashionable seaside resort, go west- 
ward to the Gulf of Maracaibo and lake of the same name, 
and at last find themselves in the region of the mighty 
Orinoco, and of course they have some exciting expe- 
riences, one of which gives name to the book. Just the 
book boys and young men should read, in view of the 
general interest in matters Pan-American. 

Its pictures of South American life and scenery are novel and instruc- 
tive. — The Literary World , Boston. 

The scenes described are of the sort to charm the hearts of adventur- 
ous boys. — The Outlook , N.Y. 

VOLUME TWO 

THE YOUNG VOLCANO EXPLORERS 

Or American Boys in the West Indies 

12mo Cloth Illustrated Price $1.25 

T HIS is a complete tale in itself, but has the same 
characters which have appeared so successfully in 
“ Lost on the Orinoco.” The boys, with their tutor, sail 
from Venezuela to the West Indies, stopping at Jamaica, 
Cuba, Hayti, and Porto Rico. They have numerous ad- 
ventures on the way, and then set out for St. Pierre, Mar- 
tinique, where they encounter the effects of the eruption 
of Mt. Pelee, and two of the boys are left on a raft to shift 
for themselves. Life in the West Indies is well portrayed, 
and the tale will appeal to many an older person as well 
as to the boys. 


PAN-AMERICAN SERIES 

By EDWARD STRATEMEYER 


VOLUME THREE 

YOUNG EXPLORERS OF THE ISTHMUS 
Or American Boys in Central America 

306 pages Cloth Illustrated by A. B. Shute Price $1.25 

T HIS is a complete tale in itself, but forms a new vol- 
ume in the surprisingly popular Pan-American series. 
It relates adventures in a tour covering Nicaragua, Costa 
Rica, and the Isthmus of Panama. The party travel the 
various canal routes, and have a number of highly inter- 
esting experiences. The volume contains a vast amount of 
timely information, and will be read with interest by young 
men as well as boys. 

It is a splendid book that will not only amuse and interest the reader, 
but will supply him with most valuable instruction and information upon 
subjects which every young American who takes pride in his country, and 
what pertains to it, ought to know. — American Boy . 

VOLUME FOUR 

YOUNG EXPLORERS OF THE AMAZON 
Or American Boys in Brazil 

300 pages 12mo Illustrated by A. B. Shute Price $1.25 

A N absorbing tale of sight-seeing and adventures in 
Brazil. The five boys and their tutor travel the 
whole seacoast from Rio de Janeiro to Para, and then 
move up the Amazon into the rubber country and beyond. 
The volume is filled with pen-pictures of life as it exists 
in Brazil to-day, and will be heartily enjoyed by all young 
people. 

The Pan-American Series by Edward Stratemeyer has been declared by 
the boys of this country to be the most up-to-date of all reading for the 
young. Filled with action and good fellowship. — Waverley Magazine. 

Mr. Stratemeyer has acquired the art of weaving a good deal of solid 
information with his web of startling adventure . — San Francisco Bulletin. 


COLONIAL SERIES 

By EDWARD STRATEMEYER 


FIRST VOLUME 

WITH WASHINGTON IN THE WEST 
Or a Soldier Boy's Battles in the Wilderness 

12mo Cloth Illustrated by A. B. Shute 302 pages $1.25 

W ASHINGTON’S earlier life 
has received scant attention, 
notwithstanding its possibilities. Mr. 
Stratemeyer has woven into an excel- 
lent story something of Washington’s 
youthful experience as a surveyor, 
leading on to the always thrilling 
Braddock’s defeat. The hero, David 
Morris, is several years younger than 
Washington, with whom he becomes 
intimately associated. Pictures of 
pioneer life are given ; scenes with 
friendly Indians ; and old-time games. 

SECOND VOLUME 

MARCHING ON NIAGARA 

Or The Soldier Boys of the Old Frontier 

12mo Cloth Illustrated by A. B. Shute Price $1.25 

T HIS tale is complete in itself, but many of its charac- 
ters have appeared in “With Washington in the 
West.” 

The story relates the doings of two young soldiers who 
join the Colonial forces in a march on Fort Niagara, during 
the time of the war with France, when the whole territory 
between the Blue Ridge and the Great Lakes was in a 
state of unrest. Many side lights are thrown into the 
colonial homes, and much useful information is given of 
the pioneers who helped to make our country what it is 
to-day. 

David Morris is a fine fellow, and about him is woven a fine “ Injun” 
story that is sure to delight the boys. — UniversalisI Leader, Boston. 



COLONIAL SERIES 

By EDWARD STRATEMEYER 


THIRD VOLUME 

AT THE FALL OF MONTREAL 

Or A Soldier Boy's Final Victory 

Illustrated by A. B. Shute 12mo Cloth $1.25 

I N this volume, the third of the u Colonial Series,” many 
of the old characters are introduced and also several 
new ones, including the heroic General Wolfe and his 
equally heroic enemy, General Montcalm. Primarily, the 
book relates the adventures of Dave Morris and his cousin 
Henry during the two last campaigns against the French 
for the possession of Canada and the territory below the 
Great Lakes. There are many stirring scenes of battle, but 
the tale is not all of war. Pictures of the rough-and-ready 
camp life of that day are given, and there are also adven- 
tures while fishing and hunting, and with the Indians. 

FOURTH VOLUME 

ON THE TRAIL OF PONTIAC 

Or The Pioneer Boys of the Ohio 

Illustrated by A. B. Shute 12mo Price $1.25 

I N this volume are related the particulars of the conspir- 
acy concocted by the noted Indian chief, Pontiac, against 
the English colonists in America a few years after the last 
war with France for the possession of Canada. 

Many particulars are given of how trading posts were 
established on the Ohio and other streams, and how the 
hunters of those days brought down their game, and how 
they outwitted the wily Indians. An ideal “Injun” tale 
for boys, with a correct historical setting. 

The young people will welcome enthusiastically his latest book. — 
Christian Endeavor World , Boston. 

Edward Stratemeyer has written a host of rattling good stories for boys. 
— The States , New Orleans . 


American Boys’ Biographical Series 

By EDWARD STRATEMEYER 
VOLUME ONE 

AMERICAN BOYS' 

LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY 

300 pages Illustrated by A. B. Shute and from Photo- 
graphs $1.25 

H ERE is told the whole story of McKinley’s boyhood days, his life 
at school and at college, his work as a school teacher, his glorious 
career in the army, his struggles to obtain a footing as a lawyer, 
his efforts as a Congressman and a Governor, and lastly his prosperous 
career as our President, all told in a style particularly adapted to beys and 
young men. The book is full of interesting anecdotes, all taken from 
life, showing fully the sincere, honest, painstaking efforts of a life cut all 
too short. The volume will prove an inspiration to all boys and young 
men, and should be in every library. 

For nearly a year Mr. Stratemeyer has been gathering material and 
giving careful study to the life of the young William, his childhood, his 
boyhood, and all his inspiring and romantic history. The story was near- 
ing its end when the awful finale came and tragedy ended the drama of 
President McKinley’s life. — New York Journal. 

VOLUME TWO 

AMERICAN BOYS' LIFE OF 

THEODORE ROOSEVELT 

300 pages 12mo Illustrated from Photographs $1.25 

T HIS excellent work for young 
people covers the whole life of 
our strenuous executive, as school- 
boy, college student, traveler, author, 
hunter and ranchman, as assembly- 
man, as civil service commissioner, 
as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, 
as a daring rough rider, as Governor 
of New York, and lastly as President. 
Full of stories taken from real life 
and told in a manner to interest both 
young and old. 

We unreservedly recommend Mr. Strate- 



TWO GOOD WAR STORIES 

By EDWARD STRATEMEYER 


ON TO PEKIN Or Old Glory in China 

Cloth 330 pages Illustrated byA. Burnham Shute $1.25 



HE hero, Gilbert Pennington, 
has become a lieutenant in the 
regular army, and goes from the 
Philippines with the Ninth Regiment 
to take part in the rescue of the be- 
leaguered British Embassy at Pekin 
by the international forces. Mr. 
Stratemeyer has risen to the occasion 
by giving, in addition to one of his 
very best stories, a store of informa- 
tion concerning China and the Chi- 
nese, conveyed in a natural and 
entertaining manner. 


Mr. Stratemeyer gives his youthful readers plenty of adventures, but 
there is little that might not easily happen. His books are eminently 
“safe” ones, and their patriotic spirit^will be considered admirable. — 
Home Journal , Boston. 


BETWEEN BOER AND BRITON 


Or Two Boys' Adventures in South Africa. 

Illustrated by A. Burnham Shute 354 pages Price $1.25 

R ELATES the experiences of two boys, cousins to each 
other, one American and the other English, whose 
fathers are engaged in the Transvaal, one in farming and 
the other in mining operations. While the two boys are 
off on a hunting trip after big game, the war between the 
Boers and Britons suddenly breaks out, and the boys find 
themselves placed between hostile armies, where their 
thrilling experiences are brought out in Mr. Stratemeyer’s 
best style. 

Exhibits the same qualities which have given popularity to his former 
writings. — The Times , Pittsburg , Pa. 

A stirring story of the South African war. — The Journal , Indianap - 
olisy Jnd. 



The boys’ delight — the “ Old Glory Series.” — The Christian Advocate , N.T . 

THE OLD GLORY SERIES 

BY EDWARD STRATEMEYER 


FIRST VOLUME 

UNDER DEWEY AT MANILA 

Or The War Fortunes of a Castaway 

Cloth Illustrated by A. B. Shute Price $1.25 

T HIS book, published in September, 1898, at once sprang to the front 
as the greatest success among books for boys since the famous Army 
and Navy series by “ Oliver Optic,” and its popularity has steadily in- 
creased as the succeeding volumes of the series have appeared. 

Edward Stratemeyer weaves the incidents of the naval conflict at Manila into a 
narrative of experiences and adventure which is wholesome in spirit and full of 
excitement, and which the boys will like. — Congregationalist. 

SECOND VOLUME 

A YOUNG VOLUNTEER IN CUBA 

Or Fighting for the Single Star 

Cloth Illustrated by A. B. Shute Price $1.25 

T HE career of Larry Russell, as recorded in “ Under Dewey at 
Manila,” was the hit of the season among juveniles. The fortunes 
of Larry are equalled in interest by the adventures of Ben, his older 
brother, and his friend, Gilbert Pennington, and the many exciting scenes 
through which they passed during their service in the army. Ben enlisted 
in a New York volunteer regiment, while Gilbert joined Colonel Roosevelt’s 
famous Rough Riders. Their life in camp, the capture of El Caney, the 
charge at San Juan hill, are all vividly described. 

Mr. Stratemeyer’s boys are clean, manly fellows, and deserve the popularity 
which doubtless awaits them. — Christian Register. 

THIRD VOLUME 

FIGHTING IN CUBAN WATERS 

Or Under Schley on the 44 Brooklyn " 

Cloth Illustrated by A. B. Shute Price $1.25 

I N this book Walter Russell, brother to Larry and Ben, the respective 
heroes of the two preceding volumes of the series, finds his way to 
Boston, secures employment, enlists in the navy, and is assigned to the 
“ Brooklyn.” Then follow intensely interesting chapters, telling of Com- 
modore Schley, the routine life of the “Jackies,” and blockade and dis- 
covery of Cervera’s fleet, followed by the memorable conflict of July 3. 

•• Fighting in Cuban Waters ” is in the same hearty, manly spirit that has made 
the other volumes of the Old Glory Series so much liked. — Journal of Education. 


OLD GLORY SERIES 

By EDWARD STRATEMEYER 


FOURTH VOLUME 

UNDER OTIS IN THE PHILIPPINES 

Or A Young Officer in the Tropics 

Cloth Illustrated by A. B. Shute Price $1.25 

T HE “ Young Officer in the Tropics ” is none other than our old friend 
Ben Russell, who upon reenlisting for service in the Philippines is 
given the same position, that of second lieutenant, to which he had been 
promoted for gallantry while “A Young Volunteer in Cuba.” 

Mr. Stratemeyer is in a class by himself when it comes to writing about Ameri- 
can heroes, their brilliant doings on land and sea. — Times , Boston. 

FIFTH VOLUME 

THE CAMPAIGN OF THE JUNGLE 

Or Under Lawton through Luzon 

Cloth Illustrated by A. B. Shute Price $1.25 

B EN and Larry figure in the “ Campaign of the Jungle,” which has a 
truthful and graphic historical setting in two expeditions of the noble 
General Lawton, whose portrait adorns the cover, the first being that di- 
rected against Santa Cruz on the Laguna de Bay, and the second from 
Manila to San Isidro, through one hundred and fifty miles of jungle. The 
same sterling qualities that have made these brothers so well liked carry 
them through perilous scenes with true American fortitude. 

A good war story. — San Francisco Bulletin. 

SIXTH VOLUME 

UNDER MACARTHUR IN LUZON 

Or Last Battles in the Philippines 

12mo Cloth llustrated by A. B. Shute Medallion cover 
320 pages $1.25 

W E have here a thoroughly up-to-date, clean, and entertaining boys' 
story, complete in itself, but forming the sixth and last volume of 
the “ Old Glory ” Series. The boys in all parts of the country have been 
anxiously waiting to learn the final fortunes of the three Russell brothers, 
Larry, Walter, and Ben, with scarcely less interest in Gilbert Pennington, 
hero of “On to Pekin,” and not forgetting other old friends on land and 
sea. All are here, doing their duty in the same straightforward way as 
ever; and the final battles in the Philippines are followed with that accu- 
racy of statement which Mr. Stratemeyer always employs, thereby giving 
general value to his books without in the least impairing the interest of the 


The Stratemeyer Popular Series 


io volumes Illustrated and handsomely bound in gold and colors 
Attractive new cover designs Price $1.00 per volume 

S INCE the passing of “ Oliver Op- 
tic ” and G. A. Henty, Edward 
Stratemeyer is the most widely read 
of all living writers for the young, and 
each year extends the vast and enthusi- 
astic throng. In obedience to the 
popular demand we have established 
this Popular Series comprising ten 
representative books by this great 
writer. The stories are bright and 
breezy, moral in tone, and while full 
of adventure, are not sensational. 
These books, at a popular price, will 
be a rare treat for the boys and girls. 

U THE LAST CRUISE OF THE SPITFIRE 
Or Luke Foster s Strange Voyage 

T HE LAST CRUISE OF THE SPITFIRE ” relates the adventures 
of a youth who ran away from his guardian’s house because he 
could no longer stand the cruel treatment received. He had never before 
been to sea, and when he is unexpectedly carried off on the “ Spitfire ” 
he encounters many adventures of which he had never before dreamed. 

'* The Last Cruise of the Spitfire ” is of deep interest to the bounding heart of an 
enthusiastic boy. — Kansas City Times. 

2 . REUBEN STONE'S DISCOVERY 

Or The Young Miller of Torrent Bend 

“ TI) EUBEN STONE’S DISCOVERY” tells, in a matter-of-fact way, 
X\. the exploits of a young miller who is left in charge of his father’s 
property while the parent goes West to seek a more promising field for 
business. A story which girls as well as boys will enjoy reading. 

“ Reuben Stone’s Discovery ” Is especially good. — New York Herald. 



The Stratemeyer Popular Series 


3 . TRUE TO HIMSELF 

Or Roger Strong’s Struggle for Place 

I N this story we are introduced to Roger Strong, a typical American 
country lad and his sister Kate, who, by an unhappy combination of 
events are thrown upon their own resources and compelled to make their 
own way in the world. Roger tells his own story in a modest, manly way 
that will charm both boys and girls, and that their parents will equally 
admire. 

“ True to Himself” is an exceptionally good book of its class . — Milwaukee Sen- 
tinel. 

4 . RICHARD DARE'S VENTURE 

Or Striking Out for Himself 

“ T^CHARD DARE’S VENTURE” relates the experiences of a 
J\ country youth who comes to New York to seek his fortune. He 
finds life in the metropolis no bed of roses, and it is only by the hardest 
work that he gains a footing at all. He enters the stationery business, and 
the plot against the boy is one that youthful readers will doubtless follow 
with keen interest. 

5 . OLIVER BRIGHT'S SEARCH 

Or T he Mystery of a Mine 

I N this story we have the adventures of a manly American youth, who 
goes West to locate a mine in which his invalid father owns a large 
interest. He is accompanied by his school chum, who has run away from 
home, and the trip is made by way of the Isthmus of Panama. Arriving 
at San Francisco, the boys, accompanied by an elderly friend and a guide, 
set out for the interior on horseback. The story gives many interesting 
sketches of mining life in the remote portions of California. 

A breezy boy’s book is *' Oliver Bright’s Search.” The author has a direct, 
graphic style, and every healthy-minded youth will enjoy the volume. — N. T. 
Commercial Advertiser. 

6. TO ALASKA FOR GOLD 

Or The Fortune Hunters of the Yukon 

T HIS tale tells of the adventures of two Maine boys who grow tired of 
trying to make a living in the lumber district of that State. An uncle, 
who is an experienced miner, offers to take them on a trip to the famous 
Klondike gold region, and the boys start out, first for the West, where 
they join their relative and several other fortune hunters, and then for the 
heart of Alaska. The gold regions are gained at last, and a summer and 
winter are spent there, hunting for the precious yellow nuggets and fight- 
ing off starvation and other perils. 


The Stratemeyer Popular Series 


7. THE YOUNG AUCTIONEER 

Or The Polishing of a Rolling Stone 

A BOY’S book, but one anybody might read with interest. The hero, 
out of work and left alone in the world, strikes up an acquaintance- 
ship with another young fellow, who is experienced as an auctioneer. The 
two form a partnership, purchase a horse and wagon, stock the turnout 
with goods, and take to the road. The numerous adventures of the part- 
ners are told in a graphic way. 

8. BOUND TO BE AN ELECTRICIAN 

Or Franklin ‘Bell's Success 

F RANKLIN BELL starts out under many difficulties. He is poor 
and has no friends to assist him in advancing himself. But a showing 
of what pluck can do at a most perilous moment gains for him the open- 
ing he seeks, and from that time on his advancement is steady. From the 
East he is sent to Chicago by his employer, where he clears up a business 
complication involving a large sum of money. 

9. SHORTHAND TOM, THE REPORTER 

Or The Exploits of a Bright Boy 

T )M SWIFT was a shorthand writer. Losing his position in the 
office of a rascally lawyer, he fell in with a newspaper editor and 
became a reporter on one of the leading New York dailies. His duties 
took him to several strange places and brought him in contact with dan- 
gerous men who were trying to do Tom and his sister Susie out of some 
property which had been left to them. Poor Susie was kidnapped, and it 
was Tom who set out on a long and perilous search for her. 

10. FIGHTING FOR HIS OWN 

Or The Fortunes of a Young Artist 

L ESTER FLEMING’S one ambition was to become an artist, but 
being nothing but a poor country lad, he seemed at first far from 
realizing that ambition. But Lester was a wide-awake fellow, and when 
his foster-father was drowned, the boy took the care of the household 
on his shoulders, and worked his way along in spite of many obstacles. 

Mr. Stratemeyer has the knack of writing stories that appeal to boys, and that 
have yet an advantage from an educational standpoint. — Living Church. 

Mr. Stratemeyer’ s stories, after the manner of “ Oliver Optic,” combine fiction 
and fact in a way to instruct and please boys. They are always well told. — 
Western Christian Advocate . 


'Co the Reader 


A LL the books mentioned in this 
list are for sale by leading 
booksellers everywhere* 

If your bookseller does not carry 
them in stock he can readily obtain 
them, on order, in a few days. 

We send books promptly upon re- 
ceipt of price, with postage extra in 
the case of net books. 



Lee AND SHEPARD Publishers 

202 Devonshire Street 
Boston Mass. 


fch ?90 


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